As previously mentioned, the 1978 year had many conflicts locally. Big and small clubs failed to provide many times their best players. River Plate and Huracán had gone on tour to compete in mini tournaments against European teams. Independiente, Boca Juniors were fighting for the Copa Libertadores and it was affecting their domestic campaign. In August 1978, River Plate and Huracán took mostly their best players to compete in Europe, leaving behind their second lineup with some starters. In addition, various NT key players had been sold to Europe after the 1978 World Cup. Villa, Bertoni, Ardiles, were all gone. For AJ, it was already said that Maradona missed many games due to NT duties. According to El Gráfico, the 1978 local league had been diminished, devalued, stripped away of its allure and complete capacity. Now the Metropolitan Championship was wide open and smaller clubs had a legitimate shot at contending for the crown. For Argentinos Juniors though, all those games that Maradona had missed, which the club had lost, had he been made available, may have turned the tide and landed his club into a final podium position.
You are welcome, mate. Different players alternated in taking the spot kicks at AJ. The club did not have a primary taker, although Maradona would have more control the following year. The same with the captaincy, Diego started to have more authority as the armband leader in the following seasons. At this point Fren or goalkeeper Munutti were the captains.
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 22 09/08/1978 Argentinos Juniors 2-1 River Plate Stadium: San Lorenzo de Almagro (Argentinos were local) Field condition: unknown For this round El Gráfico did not award grades, which wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last. It’s unclear why that occurred, but in any event, other sources still covered these games. La Nación headlined: “A just victory for Argentinos against River” The defending Metro champions of River Plate had been touring in Europe with mostly their best players and left a reserve side at home to compete for the domestic league. But even their B team still managed to dominate large stretches of the match. However, it wasn’t until Maradona really started to work his talents that Argentinos pulled off a tight win. La Nación wrote: “Slowly the local team started to recover, and with Maradona, always precise with his passes to his forwards, Argentinos brought danger to the goal of Landaburu.” In fact Maradona set up the first goal in the first half with a precise pass to Ovelart and then scored the match winner late in the second period with a decisive diving header. Under the circumstances, it was likely that the man of the match award would have been given to him, but no coverage from El Gráfico was made, and unfortunately I don’t have the magazine of Goles for this round. Summary: 1 goal (header), 1 assist Footage of the goal:
Around this period, Cesar Luis Menotti, was adamant in having Maradona stay in Argentina because the manager wanted to become FIFA world champion with the youth NT. Argentina were going to go through a difficult qualifying campaign held in early 1979 and needed Diego available to prepare for that event. This would again overlap with his club duties and Maradona would miss out on almost the entire National campaign held at the end of the year.
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 23 13/08/1978 Boca Juniors 1-1 Argentinos Juniors Stadium: La Bombonera, Boca Juniors Field condition: regular La Nación headlined: “Boca and a just draw” El Gráfico “The first 20 minutes of Boca was devastating and the posts denied them two clear goals (...) After Salina’s goal the errors started at the back of Boca’s line when they played the offside trap. Favret’s goal that leveled was because of that (...) and another infantil error from Tesare cost them a penalty that goalkeeper Gatti saved brilliantly from Overlert. In the final half Boca continued to attack, meanwhile Argentinos, managed by the intelligence of Maradona, counterattacked dangerously” Gatti, who saved a penalty from Ovelart, said after the game: “We were close to losing. In the beginning we started well, but we tailed off excessively at the end” Maradona played a good match and was awarded the grade of a 7 from El Gráfico and man of the match. Interestingly, Maradona in two consecutive visits to the Boca stadium, in the Metro ‘77 and Metro ‘78 campaigns, was in both cases El Gráfico’s man of the match. Many of his greatest performances were at this Bombonera stadium, either with AJ or when he played at Boca.
The Spanish club of Barcelona were already keen on signing a top future talent, so they turned their attention to South America. In a revealing report, after the AJ vs Boca Juniors match, Cesar Luis Menotti sent to Barcelona a detailed assessment of the capacity of Maradona, with his strengths and weaknesses. Some have argued that the report was from Cesar, a former Barcelona player who was scouting Diego in the Boca match watching from the stands. In any event, conflicting sources claim it was either one of these two. It is quite revealing. We must remember he was still 17 years old. Cesar Menotti’s report or was it Cesar’s ? PLAYER REPORT: Diego Armando Maradona OVERALL RATING: Very good, extraordinary Speed 9.5; Sprint 9.5; With Ball 9.1; Without Ball 9.5; Agility 9.5; Jumping power 8. MORAL CONDITION: Mental strength 10; Power of suffering 10; Concentration 10; Selfish 0; Personality 10. GENERAL TECHNIQUE: Unbeatable SPECIFIED TECHNIQUE: Extraordinary, efficient and precise dribblings. Excellent power. Extraordinary courage. Extraordinary efficiency. Very good shot. Very good pass. Total precision. Total vision. Regular head game. Regular heading. Good direction. Power to hold the ball very good. Extraordinary ball protection. INDIVIDUAL TACTIC: Intelligence in all football. Meaning for football everything. Good view. Speed in very good efficiency. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS: Youth. He was born on 30-10-1960. He has prodigious technical qualities, easy dribbling always from deep. He has a straight line vision in front of the goal, but he knows how to get rid of the ball for the benefit of the best placed teammate. Extraordinary reflections. He protects the ball very well to play it immediately afterwards with great efficiency. His short passes and shots are pure marvel. Prodigious changes of pace. Marca newspaper said it was Cesar Menotti https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp-ar.marca.com/claro/futbol/2019/12/09/5dee640c46163feb538b45a3.html Cesar, former Barcelona player https://www.google.com/amp/s/bolavi...-un-ojeador-sobre-Maradona-20130806-0025.html
On another note, Diego is averaging 7.45 in 11 games from 1978 Metro. Missing so far the grades for Round 4 (Argentinos-Estudiantes 3-4) and Round 22 (Argentinos-River 2-1, gol+assist). In those 13 games he scored 8 goals from open play + 3 verified assist. No penalty or free kicks. Excellent for a still 17 years old boy.
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 24 17/08/1978 Argentinos Juniors 2-0 Atlanta Stadium: La Paternal, Argentinos Juniors Field condition: unknown El Gráfico did not rate players in this round; they only published the results. The magazine of Goles graded players but did not provide any commentary. According to this source, Maradona had a very good game and was rated with an 8 and was man of the match due to having the highest marks. La Nación headlined: “Argentinos had an efficient display” In brief, Argentinos were superior, where Maradona and his midfield controlled the actions with precise passes, inflicting danger to an opponent that suffered from a shaky defense. No details of the goals were mentioned. Goles magazine El Gráfico
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 25 20/08/1978 Estudiantes (Bs. As.) 0-2 Argentinos Juniors Stadium: Chacarita (Estudiantes were local) Field condition: terrible This was a match that pitted two teams heading in opposite directions. Argentinos were ascending, while Estudiantes of Buenos Aires were falling into relegation. Both Goles and El Gráfico had Maradona down as their man of the match, but with different grades of a very good 8 for Goles and a correct 6 for El Gráfico. It was judged as a poor spectacle, played on an intolerable pitch, with both sides disorganized, committing errors, and lacking emotion. El Gráfico wrote, “Maradona was the only one that could unbalance the game in that disorder, but was always fouled.” In one violent foul on Maradona, the defender Toloza was sent off in the 66th minute, but the home side had already been down by two goals. Goles wrote, “In the middle of total monotony we were able to witness two to three figures that gave splendor to the spectacle. Maradona and Fren showed they are up to the standards of any midfielder of Argentina. They had the monopoly of the possession, but had so much of the ball that they forgot to distribute and share with their teammates the circumstances that were unfolding.” Now according to the details of the goals, La Nación and El Gráfico varied in their information. La Nación printed that Maradona set up the first goal after beating 3 defenders. El Gráfico mentioned it was his teammate Ríos. The last was an own goal after Maradona had headed a chance, but the ball deflected off the goalkeeper and defender Jalil. Summary: 1 assist (La Nación) but El Gráfico mentioned another player. El Gráfico Goles
In August 1978 El Gráfico printed on their frontcover that River Plate’s Fillol was the best goalkeeper in the world and that Argentina boasted of having the best football in the world. Their arguments were clear, Argentina were reigning world champions, Boca Juniors were South American and Intercontinental champions defeating Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 in West Germany in resounding fashion. In mini European tournaments, where the officiating was poor and favored mostly the home or European sides, River Plate won the “Villa de Madrid” cup, was also finalist in the “Carranza cup” and finished third in the “Costa del Sol” tournament after only losing on PKs to the Netherlands of PSV. Huracán were jeopardized from the officiating in the “Costa del Sol” cup held in Málaga and then went on to beat Ajax of the Netherlands, and even though they lost to England’s Middlesbrough, it landed England’s interest of Ardiles and Babington. Eventually the youth Argentinian NT would also go on to win the Youth World Cup one year later. The prestige was at its highest for Argentina around the world.
On the other hand, Argentina’s fields were a disgrace. The general consensus was that mostly every pitch was in terrible shape, making it very difficult to properly control, shoot or maintain balance. In the below photos, it shows muddy pitches, unbalanced grass, with unbalanced surfaces. Terrains more fitted for Rugby. For a country that boasted of having the best players and football in the world, their fields seemed like killing fields. Truly shocking and an embarrassment, according to El Gráfico.
16/03/1978 Atlanta 2-5 Argentinos Juniors I think I found an assist in this game, in the last goal. "Maradona eludió a Azzolini, le hizo un "caño" a Abdala y se la mandó con rótulo a la cabeza de López, para cerrar la cuenta."
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 26 25/08/1978 Argentinos Juniors 0-0 Newell’s Old Boys Stadium: Atlanta (Argentinos were local) Field condition: terrible El Gráfico “The unqualified state of the field and the poor illumination served as a sad setting for an inconsequential match. Newell’s gathered at the back and through the gestation of Berta, took control of the central field in the first stages. Then, Argentinos had more push and firmness in their defending — Maradona looked to penetrate with more strength — , but his forwards lacked strength and direction on their shots to conquer supremacy” (this is evident with Premici, Ovelar and Favret receiving very poor grades). El Gráfico rated Maradona with an acceptable performance with a mark of a 6. La Nación headlined: “Argentinos: a just draw in a mediocre match” The newspaper said this about Diego: “Maradona, neutralized by the midfielders of the visiting side, looked as if he only appeared in the game when he really wanted to take things seriously, like in the 30th minute in a skillful play, shot wide.”
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 27 30/08/1978 Velez Sarsfield 0-2 Argentinos Juniors Stadium: Jose Amalfitani, Velez Sarsfield Field condition: excellent This is where Diego started to showcase some of his best displays in his visits at the Amalfitani stadium in Velez Sarsfield, in Liniers, Buenos Aires. Some of his most extraordinary displays were accomplished on this pitch for Argentinos Juniors, including a 4 goal destruction vs Boca Juniors in 1980 or a top class performance against the NT of West Germany in a friendly in 1987. But Velez Sarsfield really felt his wrath between the years of 1978-1980. Goles “Argentinos on the counterattack obtained the win. Carrizo and Bianchi secured the back, while the rest of the job was left to Maradona, who creating in the middle and finishing up front in the box, turned into the star of the game. His offensive work unbalanced the weak defending of the opponent (...) The triumph rewarded the excellent job of Maradona on the entire field” La Nación wrote, “slowly the job of Maradona started to have weight in the midfield, the work that dismantled completely the defense of the opponent. Besides, his individual actions — his first goal was on the counter-break and the second from the spot — he was a nightmare for his interchangeable defenders.” El Gráfico “Velez could have decided the game in the first 10 minutes with three clear chances, one wasted by Roldán and the other two admirably defended from the visiting goalkeeper. Then, Argentinos balanced the game, but crashed against the ineptitude of their forwards (...) The decisive change came after the half: Premici to the middle and Maradona moved forward and the entire home team lost control of their defensive markings and were confused.” Goles rated Maradona with an excellent performance with a 9 and their man of the match. El Gráfico graded Diego with a very good 8, but chose goalkeeper Munutti as their man of the match. In both cases, the rest of the frontline of Argentinos were rated poorly, and it was becoming clear for the entire season that Argentinos had very average forwards. Summary: 2 goals (1 PK)
In round 28 Argentinos Juniors received a bye. Their next game would be against Colón of Santa Fe at home. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/arg78.html
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 29 10/09/1978 Argentinos Juniors 2-1 Colón (Santa Fe) Stadium: La Paternal, Argentinos Field condition: poor La Nación headlined: “Argentinos: an arduous win” “Until the first 30 minutes Argentinos worked better as a team. The excellent job of Fren, the best performer on the pitch, rubbed off on Rios and Maradona, who scored the first goal from the spot after Fren had been fouled. The impeccable equalizer with a header from Luñiz, who left goalkeeper Munutti “static”, started to unbalance the game for the home team. The clean and effective job of Zimmerman on Maradona and the deployment of Di Meola in the middle gave control of the midfield to Colón (...) In the second half, a good play from Premici to set up Ovelar, handed the home side the lead when Colón had been dominating. Argentinos then fell back to protect the intensive attacks from Colón but the goalkeeping saves of Munutti avoided the draw.” El Gráfico “Argentinos took home a win by capitalizing on the few chances they had but the result was too generous. (...) and only the brilliant display from Munutti avoided the draw” El Gráfico rated Diego with an acceptable performance with a 6. Summary: 1 goal (PK)
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 30 14/09/1978 Estudiantes (LP) 2-1 Argentinos Juniors Stadium: Estudiantes (LP) Field condition: regular El Gráfico “Excellent first half of Estudiantes who dominated the field and possession. They were solid in all lines and had the high quality in the creative left foot of Lopez. There is where defender Pedraza shutdown Maradona and Fren, without much success, tried to order his team, but were outplayed. In the second half Estudiantes dropped and the talent of Maradona emerged with his rich repertoire, inclusively he scored a perfect free kick placed as if struck with his hand to the right side of goalkeeper Pezzano. It was the 1-1 and all looked decided, but at the end, Fortunato grabbed the match winner in clear offside which the linesman sanctioned but was overruled by the official despite the protests from the visiting side. Overall, the result was just because Estudiantes had been better” The official was rated very poorly for his performance. He apparently got wrong the goal which gave the home team victory and sent two players off, one from each side. The newspaper of La Nación also questioned the winning goal, pointing out the dubious position of the player that appeared offside. As for Maradona, his excellent second half elevated his performance to a good grade of a 7 from El Gráfico, as his team’s best player, but his forwards once again had played poorly. Summary: 1 goal (free kick)
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 31 18/09/1978 Argentinos Juniors 4-1 Independiente Stadium: San Lorenzo (Argentinos were local) Field condition: unknown No grades were handed out by El Gráfico in this round, nor do I possess any information of other sources of this game. I thought I had a review of the magazine of Goles, but unfortunately I cannot find it. The only information at hand was a few seconds of footage that surfaced of Diego’s goal, where we can observe him rounding the goalkeeper. It can also be confirmed by video that this match was played at the San Lorenzo stadium, as noted by the rsssf website. But by all accounts Maradona did indeed score 1 goal, as was printed in various records and verified through the video footage. Summary: 1 goal http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/arg78.html http://josecarluccio.blogspot.com/2010/07/argentina-1ra-division-afa-1978.html?m=1
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 32 20/09/1978 Huracán 1-2 Argentinos Juniors Stadium: Huracán Field condition: terrible Diego returned to the stadium that produced his and the best individual goal of the 1977 Metropolitan campaign. At that time he scored twice in a 3-0 victory, where Huracán had their best players available, including Houseman and Ardiles. This time he scored twice again but both arriving from penalty kicks, the first one after being fouled by goalkeeper Baley in what appeared to be a dubious decision. Huracán had a miserable campaign up until this point, with Ardiles being sold to English football, with Houseman absent in a personal lackluster season, and the club was fighting to stay in the first division. The difference in this match was the penalty conversions. Huracán had two but missed one, while Argentinos scored both of their spot kicks. Diego had a correct performance, rated with a 6 from El Gráfico. Summary: 2 goals (2 PKs)
Metropolitan Championship 1978 Round 33 25/09/1978 Argentinos Juniors 1-1 Quilmes Stadium: San Lorenzo (Argentinos were local) Field condition: unknown No grades from El Gráfico in this round and unfortunately I don’t have any other sources. There is however a good recap of the match with the video footage below. Maradona scored the equalizer with one minute remaining. Summary: 1 goal