Maradona's influence in Argentina is so great that as long as he appears anywhere in Argentina, he will definitely cause a commotion, and it is said that there was a poll on Argentina before, and his influence even surpassed that of the Argentine president.
Why is his influence so great in Argentina? It has a lot to do with the World Cup in '86, and Argentina and England fought in '82, known as the Falklands War.
Falklands War
This starts with the inflation in Argentina in 81, the Argentine economy declined in 81, and its inflation reached 600%, the domestic economy was on the verge of collapse, the whole people were not happy, the Argentine authorities wanted to divert domestic contradictions through a war in order to prevent a coup d'état, and the Falklands under British control at that time became the target of the Argentine authorities. Britain was also not doing well at that time, and Britain, which had a sharp decline in economy and military compared with before, was indeed already difficult to defend its territory outside its homeland.
At that time, the British Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher, the famous Iron Lady at that time, she insisted on defending the Falklands from Argentina, so she insisted on fighting this war with Argentina with the strength of the whole country. In the end, England won a tragic victory, but it won the war, and the defeated Argentina was worried about internal and external troubles, especially the people at the bottom, and fortunately they also had Maradona, their hero Maradona.
The road is narrow
In the quarterfinals of the 86 World Cup in Mexico, the two protagonists of the Falklands War met, and more interestingly, Maradona first scored with the hand of God, which was almost Maradona who hit the ball into the goal with his hand. It was in this game that he scored after four defenders and goalkeepers for the England national team. The goal of more than five in a row was very shocking, and Maradona played the tall England defender in the palm of his hand, which you can search online to see. It was with these two goals that Argentina won the match with a 2-1 win over England. Maradona led the team to win against the mighty England, in reality I can't beat you, but on the pitch I won you and the whole Argentina boiled.
In the end, Argentina also won the World Cup in '86, allowing the world to see the strength of Argentine football. Gorgeous style, firm will, indomitable will on the pitch, World Cup champions in a special historical period all have special significance for Argentina.
End
In fact, at the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina was a very rich country in the world, and their development was not weaker than that of some European countries, but in the late last century, especially after the seventies and eighties, Argentina's economy has not improved, and the vast number of people at the bottom have not lived well. There is a data that says that 32 years ago, in the early 90s of the last century in 1990, Argentina's per capita GDP was 14 times that of China, and in 2021 Argentina's per capita GDP was 10,400 US dollars, less than our 12,000 US dollars.
Therefore, in the eyes of Argentines, Maradona is not only a ball king, but also the spiritual sustenance of the Argentine people, but also a business card that Argentina shows to the world, is a heroic figure, and it is not difficult to understand why Maradona, a person who has so many problems in life, is still so loved by the Argentine people. And after Maradona's death, Argentina also held a state funeral for him.