Compared to the slightly unworthy death group in Group B, the Group C match at barcelona's Sarria Stadium is a well-deserved group of death matches. Italy, Brazil, Argentina, these three teams are all first-class strong teams at present and at that time, and their competition is naturally highly anticipated by fans.
At 17:15 local time on June 29, 1982, Spain played their first match against Argentina, with Italy playing against Argentina. In the first group stage of this cup, Italy's performance was not outstanding, and they only relied on multiple goals to push Cameroon to qualify. The media at the time did not see Italy as a strong contender for the title, with Maradona's defending title and Brazil, which took artistic football to the extreme, the focus of the group. Even the Italian fans at the time didn't think the team would go very far. But Italian coach Berardott is full of confidence in his team, and for the first match against Argentina, he knows that the key to victory is to limit Maradona, so he already has a countermeasure.
Bealzot's response was simple, that is, to send someone to keep an eye on Maradona, but this is a very difficult task, after all, Maradona's strength is there. Fortunately, Claudio Gioneti, who had been given the task by Bealzot, completed the task perfectly, Maradona seemed helpless under his brown candy defense, and Maradona's jersey had even been pulled quite loosely. Maradona was unable to exert its power, Argentina's natural strength was seriously depleted, goals from Tardelli and Cabrini helped Italy establish a two-goal lead, and Argentina was scored by Passarella in the 83rd minute of the game, but it was too late, and Argentina eventually lost 1-2 to Italy.
The Argentine, who lost the first game, welcomed their sworn enemy Brazil on July 2, and unlike the Italians, the Brazilians, who advocate art football, want to beat their old rival Argentina with a beautiful football. Argentines also know that they cannot afford to lose in this battle, but they know how terrible the Brazilian midfield, composed of Zico, Falcao and Socrates, is. As a result, Argentina sent 5 to 6 players to play against Brazil in midfield, and the Argentine once dominated the midfield. But the Brazilians were not to be outdone, adopting a defensive strategy that limited Maradona and Kempez' play. In the 11th minute of the match, Brazil won a free kick, Eder's heavy artillery bombardment bounced back into the field after hitting the crossbar, and the astute Zico shot to help Brazil take the lead.
Due to the accumulation of too many players in the midfield, Argentina was undermanned in the offensive line and was unable to score goals for a long time. The Brazilian naturally did not miss such an opportunity, in the 66th minute of the game, Zico took the ball in front of the Argentine penalty area, a direct pass found Falcao on the right, Falcao quickly crossed, Sergio helped Brazil to expand the score.
Nine minutes later, the Brazilian made a comeback, with Junior and Zico playing kicks at the edge of the penalty area, and Junior rewrote the score to 3:0, and the Brazilian victory was decided. I thought that this game would not make any more waves, but Maradona did not agree, but this time it was not a good thing. Maradona was again defended again in this game without temper, and Falcao became his nightmare.
Already depressed by the defense, and Argentina was already 0-3 behind at this time, Maradona finally couldn't help it. In the 85th minute of the match, maradona, who was embarrassed and angry, kicked Brazil's No. 18 Batista to the ground with a fierce flying kick. The referee certainly wouldn't sit idly by, and with a red card, Maradona ended his first World Cup trip. After Maradona was sent off, the Argentine scored instead. In the 89th minute of the match, Ramon Diaz, who came on as substitute Kempez in the second half, helped the team to pull back a city, but it was already too late, and Brazil finally won Argentina 3-1.
Both battles were lost, and the defending champion took the lead and returned home. It is worth mentioning that Maradona later said that he wanted to kick Falcao at that time, because he was too comfortable in the midfield! It's just that I've found the wrong target.