This book "God's Hand: Maradona" was compiled for back-ups in 2017 and first published to know the ball number, only for fans to exchange and learn, because the author of this book, Jimmy Burns, is an Englishman, so some views may be a little biased, I hope you read rationally.
So why was Diego Maradona excluded from the Argentina squad for the 1978 FIFA World Cup? Menotti told me that the reason for not choosing Maradona was that he thought Diego was too young to be immature not only physically, but psychologically. At the first meeting with Maradona, Menotti confirmed that the child will definitely play for the Argentine national team in the future, but at present, he cannot cope with the failure well and his mind is not mature enough. "With the pressure that Argentina is facing, can you imagine what he would do if we lost? I think he might do something extreme. Our opponents in the group are very strong, including France, Italy, Hungary with Platini, and we have a real chance of losing. In addition, the team doctor of the Argentine national team said that Maradona's muscle structure is still in the development stage, so it cannot withstand too fierce confrontation. In response, Menotti said: "He is at risk of serious fouls, and if that is the case, it will be difficult for him to have a greater development for the rest of his career." I have to protect him. In the end, Menotti endured the pain and excluded Maradona from the national team lineup. The young man's abilities were impeccable, but in his eyes, not being selected for the national team made him want to perform himself on the pitch even more.
Platini was in good shape that year
At that time, the brightest star in Menorti's eyes was not Maradona, but Mario Kempez. In August 1976, when Kempez left Argentina to play for Valencia in La Liga, Menotti regretted not being able to observe Kempez for a long time, calling Him "the indispensable leader of the Argentine national team". Menotti also said at the time: "Kempes's trip to Europe is a loss for Argentine football. Now that the World Cup is less than two years away, it's completely impossible for us to create a player who can compete with Kempez. His youth, his potential, his experience in the national team are all things that others will look up to. ”
1978 was the World Cup at Kempes
When the World Cup was about to take place, Menotti was still obsessed with Kempeth, sometimes even to the point of irrationality. He had tried to make Maradona another Kempez, but later discovered that Diego was still too young. A few weeks before the Start of the World Cup, Menotti had lunch with Alfredo di Stéfano. The former Real Madrid player also expressed to Menotti his high opinion of Kempeth. Di Stéfano believes that in all these years, he has not found a player who is both super capable and creative on the field like Kempes. Kempes almost single-handedly led Valencia from a team on the verge of relegation to a contender for la Liga title. The Valencia manager also praised the star player in his squad: "He is the most capable machine of this era to produce beautiful football. ”
Kempez became the soul of the Valencia team
In addition to Kempez, the Argentine national team has some good and experienced players in the squad, such as Bira and Alonso. However, Menotti's decision to abandon Maradona initially cast a shadow over Argentina's World Cup trip. Argentina's youth team's Setimio Aloisio was very sure maradona would be named in the final squad for the national team. So he rushed to the concentration camp to ask Maradona to renew his contract with the club before the national team went out. "I'm sure he'll go to the World Cup and then perform amazingly at the World Cup. When the time comes, he will return with a full load of honors. At that time, Maradona's salary requirements were completely different, and it was estimated that we could not afford to pay it at all. So, I have to find him in advance and ask him to renew his contract with the club early so that the initiative is in our hands. ”
River Plate's attacking midfielder Alonso
Aloisio rushed to the national team training center, but when he tried to meet Maradona, he was stopped by Ricardo Pizarroti. Pizarrotti is the coach of the national team and the team's number two person after Menotti. However, Aloisio also has a secret ally in the Argentine training camp, that is, team doctor Dr. Ruben Oliva. While Menotti, Pisarotti, and the whole team were training behind closed doors, Aloisio approached Oliva to talk. "Doctor, I've already contacted Diego, and you must do me a big favor." Help me figure out what I can do to get Diego to slip away from pisarotti's nose. Help me find a room and let me have a good chat with Diego. Otherwise, my club would be doomed. ”
Pizarroti, Maradona and Menotti
Oliva listened to Alloisio's words. He doesn't really have anything to do with the Argentine Youth Club and doesn't have much of his own views on Maradona. It was only in the process of preparing the Argentine national team for the World Cup that Oliva and Pisarotti had sharp contradictions over the way the players trained and their bodies recovered. Oliva sees Pisarotti as an important enemy, fearing that he will affect his relationship with Menorti. Dr. Oliva was a left-wing intellectual who prided himself on being Menotti's philosophical mentor. He instilled a number of radical political views in Menotti and often set goals for the future development of Argentine football for Menotti. Aloisio's request gave him a chance to take revenge on Pisarotti and regain his dominant influence on Menotti. While Pisarotti was talking to other players, Oliva found Maradona. It was a break between training sessions, and Oliva led Maradona to meet Aloisio. After brief talks, Maradona agreed to extend the contract. Throughout Maradona's career, he was surrounded by intrigues and tricks, large and small. This renewal was the first time in his life that he had fallen into a trap.
Maradona with Dr. Oliva
A week later, Aloisio approached Menotti and wanted to talk to him about the selection of players for the World Cup. Aloisio strongly recommended to Menotti that Maradona be included in the final list, as Diego has proven himself in the top flight and is Argentina's most promising future talent. Without Maradona, Argentina's World Cup would have been eclipsed. Menotti didn't buy it. He insisted that Maradona was not mature enough. He told Aloisio that he had chosen Alonso as maradona's replacement. Alonso is also a potential rising star and plays for the bigger River Plate team. Not only that, but River Plate's home monument stadium has been selected as the dedicated venue for this World Cup.
According to witnesses who had been observing the Argentine national team up close for a long time at the time, there was a very personal reason why Menotti abandoned Maradona. As the World Cup approaches, the manager is very confident that Argentina will be able to win the championship on home soil. With the enthusiasm of the whole country, Menotti has been immersed in the coming victory and glory, while at the same time very worried that others will come to spoil the situation and ruin his dreams. That scene in the warm-up match against Hungary is still fresh in his mind, and as the fans in the audience stands chant maradona's name, he found himself almost coerced to have Maradona come on as a substitute.
Although Maradona was abandoned in 1978, Menotti has always had a good relationship with the king
Menotti sees this World Cup as the most significant opportunity of his life. He could not accept that anyone in the team surpassed his authority. He worries that Maradona will affect that because the youngster's influence on the team is simply too great. Fernandez-Morse recalled.
Dr. Ruben Oliva began working with Menotti during his time with the Hurricanes, and was later brought to the Argentine national team by Menotti, becoming a key figure in Argentina's 1978 World Cup journey. He was very supportive of Morse's view. Oliva recalled: "Menorty was worried about Maradona's reputation. He didn't want any big people around him. He has to be the boss of this team. He also didn't want anyone to interfere with his judgment and decision-making. Menotti believes that if there is more such pressure around him, he will lose control of the whole situation. ”
Absolute control of the team is the bottom line of Menotti's coaching
In the end, the news of Maradona's absence from the 1978 World Cup was fermented and hyped by the world's major media and became an important news event in the history of sports. In Argentina, hosting the 1978 World Cup became the most important political task in the eyes of the junta. They signed a cooperation agreement with a well-known Public Relations Company in the United States to promote Argentina's positive international image to the world. Domestically, the junta has used its power to impose total martial law on major cities to ensure that there will be no chaos during the World Cup. During that period, hosting the World Cup became an overriding political task in Argentina. Facing the Argentine national team, the junta has continuously released signals through various channels, asking the head coach and the whole team to work together to keep the Hercules Cup at home. It was only later, after the fall of the junta, that Menotti made public the pressures he had been under. In 1986, Menotti wrote an open letter to the Argentine players he had coached, including Maradona, in this way to say goodbye to the people of the country.
Many people say I coached the Argentine national team during the dictatorship and that I was a lackey of the junta. On the contrary, I did not have any common language with the Argentine government at that time, and their way of thinking was completely contradictory to my pursuit of life. What should I do as head coach of Argentina? Deliberately taking Argentina badly to betray the enthusiasm of the fans? Of course not. We knew very well that at that time, we were playing for the people, not for any ruling class. At that time, the Argentine people needed a new starting point to change everything they faced. We play as hard as we can on the pitch because we know we have an obligation to give people great football performances. If possible, we should use the championship to give back the support of the Argentines. After all, playing seriously is the happiest thing for those of us. The moment we arrived at the final venue, we all had a belief in our hearts: to repay the Argentine people with a wonderful performance. We don't play football for the government officials in the box. I told the players that we were going to play to the fans outside the fence and show it to all the Argentine people. Maybe our parents just sat there watching us from afar. We are the sons of steelworkers, butchers, bakers, taxi drivers, we are not accomplices of dictators.
However, Menotti did not mention in the article how his players prepared for the World Cup, especially if they dumped the bad problems they had. An Argentine team doctor once told me that before the 1978 World Cup, "all Argentine players were doping, and I was determined to fight this trend." "As a result, he only achieved success in stages. There are many Argentine players who have been taking amphetamines for a long time while playing in domestic leagues. In the urine test organized by the Argentine Football Association before the World Cup, the vast majority of players failed. Previously, FIFA has developed quite effective mechanisms to control drug abuse among participating players during major events. However, Argentine officials sheltered their own athletes for political reasons, falsifying the results of a large number of regular urine tests. At the 1978 World Cup, the only scapegoat was Scotland player Willie Johnstone. He was disqualified from the World Cup after being found positive for urine and was banned from playing in the national team for one year by FIFA. Johnstone reportedly took two fincanfamin tablets before the game to improve his competitive status. According to information later released, both Kempes and Alberto Tarantini took doping before the World Cup matches. The sheer volume of their doping caused them to remain hyperactive an hour after the game and struggle to regain their composure. However, the most shocking thing about this World Cup was the special trick used by the Argentine organizing committee to cover up the doping of players. They approached a pregnant woman and took her urine to impersonate a urine sample tested by the players after the game. In November 1995, when I raised the issue with Menotti in person and questioned him, he was suddenly very emotional, denying that his team had taken any illegal drugs at the 1978 World Cup. Speaking about Kempez, Menotti said: "Kempez is one of the purest Argentine players I have ever seen. The list of "pure" players he called also included Adiles, Bertoni, Garvan, Olgun, Luke and Passarella, the players in the Argentine national team who were not found to be doping. "If a player takes doping, he can't stay in shape for three years. After three years he was finished, and the child must have plummeted into utter waste. The Argentine team I coached was the strongest team in Argentine football history, and they both maintained good careers later on, so it was impossible for them to have taken illicit drugs. ”
Argentina captain Passarella lifted the Hercules Cup
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This article is compiled from Jimmy Burns' book Hand of God: The Life of Maradona, published in 2010