Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

Sabella is in intensive care, hopefully he'll recover soon.

If wasnt his health problem, I think he'd have been one if best manager today. He won league title, Libertadores , led Argentina to topped qualifier & runner up at WC all within 5 years.

 

Goycochea

Esto de Goyco es durísimo. pic.twitter.com/JWniJN8R56

— Javier Lanza (@javierlanza) November 27, 2020

 

This was from a couple of weeks back:

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CIG_YQ7gIOT/?igshid=c5wjcpyejxjb

 

Millions of words have been written about Diego in the past, many millions have been written in the last few days and countless others no doubt will be written in the future.

Suffice to say for me he is the greatest player of all time. There has been plenty of respect, admiration and sympathy from football fans here in England and players aside from a very small minority who cannot see and full of hatred.

For me as a small boy he was the player that made me an Argentina fan. I was only seven sitting in the living room with the evening sun streaming through the windows watching that quarter-final while my dad had gone to grab a drink from the kitchen.

I still remember the awe and amazement as he picked the ball up from the halfway line to score the goal of the century. I shouted so loud telling my dad he had to come and watch the replay. He was not too pleased by the scoreline being an ardent England fan but was also in amaze.

I loved the way Diego manipulated the ball as did the whole side. There was a subtle art and beauty to it and I am glad ever since despite numerous heartaches that I became an Albiceleste. The sadness is that as he said himself he could have been even better had he not strayed from the path and all that excess has led to an untimely death. But what is his legacy ? It is the memories, .joy and hope he brought to millions across the world. What greater gift can there be ? Football is merely a distraction from the often grim realities of life.

From El Grafico:

The abilities that defined Maradona were so highly valued at such a young age that by 1983 when Diego was only 22 years old El Gráfico summarized all of his qualities that combined the skillsets of many talents of contemporary and previous eras.

He was the most explosive appearance of the past years. At the age of 16 he made his international debut. Already at the age of 17 he was a prodigy of skill and ingenuity. At the age of 18 his game continued to inspire with potency. At the age of 19 a Youth World champion in Japan that amazed. At the age of 21, the exclusive reason for the championship of Boca Juniors. At the age of 22, the world transfer record to Barcelona. His skill is so huge, his talent so exceptional, that Diego combined the skill of all of the greats, of the past 40 years, exhibiting the best virtues of all of them.

He had the short game and electrical play of Walter Gómez. He had the long sprint of Norberto Mendez. He had the fascinating change of rhythm and shift of movement with unpredictability of Angel Rojas. He had the vision and eyes behind his head of Ricardo Bochini. He had the subtlety in touch of Rinaldo Martino. He had the unstoppable gambeta (crossover dribble) of Enrique Sivori. He had the touch and shot of Norberto Alonso. He had the finishing of Sanfilippo.

His time at Napoli.

At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career: he soon inherited the captain's armband from Napoli veteran defender Giuseppe Bruscolotti and quickly became an adored star among the club's fans; in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Maradona played for Napoli at a period when north–south tensions in Italy were at a peak due to a variety of issues, notably the economic differences between the two. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their first ever Serie A Italian Championship in 1986–87. Goldblatt wrote, "The celebrations were tumultuous. A rolling series of impromptu street parties and festivities broke out contagiously across the city in a round-the-clock carnival which ran for over a week. The world was turned upside down. The Neapolitans held mock funerals for Juventus and Milan, burning their coffins, their death notices announcing 'May 1987, the other Italy has been defeated. A new empire is born.' Murals of Maradona were painted on the city's ancient buildings, and newborn children were named in his honour. The following season, the team's prolific attacking trio, formed by Maradona, Bruno Giordano and Careca, was later dubbed the "Ma-Gi-Ca" (magical) front-line.

Jorge Valdano normally rather reserved talks about his team mate:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...er-had-no-flaws-maradona-the-man-was-a-victim

https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/25/21720683/diego-maradona-death-argentina-legend

Podcast:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ute-to-diego-maradona-football-weekly-podcast

The film Maradona directed by Asif Kapadia for those who might not have watched it:
https://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2020/11/25/diego-maradona-documentary/
https://putlockers.fm/watch/VdPVYQKx-diego-maradona.html

FIFA have once more brought the official film of the 1986 World Cup back onto their Youtube channel. Narrated by Michael Caine:

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Tribute from Napoli fans outside the soon to be renamed San Paolo stadium:

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The mural on the top left was commissioned by Arkadiusz Milik. His father was a huge Maradona fan and passed that on to his footballing son.

 

And inspiration for so many songs:





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That official film of 1986 I had taped it on VHS. I must have watched it 100x.

The song at the very end - “A Special Kind of Hero” sounds so haunting now, but so apt.

Lyrics

[00:01.600] Argentina, Argentina, Argentina...，，……
[00:05.950] AH...……
[00:10.440] Living for a very special sign
[00:17.640] Telling of a very special time
[00:26.290] Leaving just the chance to stake a claim
[00:30.910] In a very different kind of game
[00:34.630] Just one chance to be held up high
[00:40.680] Or be cut down
[00:46.090] Sink or swim, swim or drown，
[00:54.860] Can me see the gap between right and wrong
[00:59.300] Tearful sounds and a joyful song
[01:04.570] Reaching for the hands of love
[01:08.680] Hoping to be pulled from up above
[01:12.250] My friend
[01:14.590] to be a special kind of hero
[01:19.650] My new found game
[01:22.610] to be a special kind of hero
[01:27.860] I need you
[01:30.840] need you with me
[01:34.980] My hero
[01:39.010] how you bring me
[01:43.150] Feelings like I cannot explain
[01:47.280] Warmth that feeds from my pain?
[01:51.240] Capturing moments in time
[01:55.340] That the world can never replace
[01:59.660] Forever suspended in space
[02:03.520] Moments of a very special kind
[02:18.230] Immortalize an aspect of the mind
[02:26.190] Moving past limits of those above
[02:31.560] Guided by the visions of the strong
[02:36.340] Into places never seen before
[02:40.120] Where I can be a certain kind
[02:47.610] I want to be a hero in my mind
[02:56.100] With very special guidance from above
[03:00.880] and very precious moments of my love

 

Messi’s tribute to Maradona- and attention to detail.

 

Messi hasnt scores a rocket like that in quite a while. I think Diego lent him his magic.

 

How splendid would it be for Messi to win WC22.

 

From Menotti scouting report in 1978 when Argentinos jr played against Boca.

PLAYER REPORT: Diego Armando Maradona

GRADING ASSESSMENT: Very good, extraordinary. Speed 9.5. Starting Speed 9.5. With Ball 9.1. Without Ball 9.5. Agility 9.5. Jump power 8.

MORAL CONDITION: Mental strength 10. Power of suffering 10. Concentration 10. Selfish 0. Personality 10.

GENERAL TECHNIQUE: Unbeatable.

SPECIFIED TECHNIQUE: Extraordinary, effective and just dribbling. Excellent power. Extraordinary courage. Extraordinary efficiency. Very good shot. Great passing. Total accuracy. Complete vision. Average heading. Good leadership. Very good power to retain the ball. Extraordinary ball protection.

INDIVIDUAL TACTICS: Complete intelligence in football. Complete sense for football. Good view. Very good speed in efficiency.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS: Young. He was born on 30/10/1960. He has prodigious technical qualities, easy dribbling. He has a straight line vision facing the goal, but he knows how to get rid of the ball for the best placed teammate. Extraordinary reflexes. He protects the ball very well to play it immediately with great efficiency. His short passes and shots are pure wonder. Prodigious changes of pace.

 

Watched Atalanta tonight in CL, Christian Romero really needs to be in the squad in March. He would compliment well with Quarta imo.

 

People flocked the street, even climbed trees trying to see Diego when he visited India some years ago.





You'll never see anything like this from another sport figures.

 

Tevez scored an away goal winner in libertadores.

 

Angel Correa quietly putting together a solid season in Atletico Madrid (#1 in La Liga). He has 9 league appearances in 10 matches, 1 goal and 5 assists. He has another 5 Champions League appearances with 1 assist.

He is getting much more playing time than in years past. He is growing into a very solid player and attacking threat. I have always liked his game. It is unfortunate that his position is so crowded in the NT, however I believe he can be a very useful player for us as a substitute or injury replacement.

 

barcelona is such a garbage team absurd that Messi is forced to play with them wasting his last years. Biggest crime in modern footbal