When A 15 Year Old Was The Best Player On The Planet

So… you know what upsets me? People often  complain that Maradona’s prime was cut short by his addictions and his trouble with the mafia,  but they completely ignore the fact that he had already become the best player on the planet way  before he even arrived in Europe… Hadn’t it been for some old guy in a suit deciding that players  born outside Europe couldn’t win the Ballon D’Or, Maradona would have been sweeping all those awards  pretty much from the moment he first stepped on the pitch… I mean look, in 1986, they handed  the Ballon D’Or to Igor Belanov and… don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the greatest, but there has  never been a single year where one player was as obviously superior to everyone else as Maradona  in 86… and you don’t even need to imagine how the rankings would have looked if they could have  voted for him… because just as France Football had the Ballon D’Or, just a 500 miles away, in Turin,  Guerin Sportivo, the oldest and one of the most prestigious sports magazines in the world had a  very similar award, The World Player Of The Year, and as the name suggests, they did not  discriminate… that year… Maradona took 90 votes, while every other player on the face  of the earth put together… only managed 6… So, now that I’ve shown you this award is as  credible as any other one… let me tell you that all the way back in 79, when Maradona was still an  18 year old playing for Argentinos Juniors, they had already named him the best on the planet… and  even better, not only was that the year the award was founded… meaning he could have easily taken  it at an even younger age, but from there on out, till the day he left for Europe at 21 as the most  expensive player of all time, he was on the podium every single year… I mean, no wonder… he was…  a creative midfielder, that from the age of 15 to 21, playing 5 out of those 6 years for  a team that had just been on the verge of relegation… scored 144 goals and provided, at  the very least, 56 assists in 206 matches… and before you ask, what do you mean he was 15? Well… People don’t seem to understand this but Maradona was sort of a child star… like the  kid was famous nationwide way before he even went pro… It was only at the age of 9 that one  of his best friends persuaded to come to training with him at Argentinos Juniors and well… an hour  later, as the coach who was there that day wrote: “They say people witness at least one miracle  in their lives, but most do not even realize it.

I certainly did… It came on a rainy Saturday  in 1969, when a kid did things with the ball that I’d never seen in my life”. . .

About two years later, his team had gone 136 matches without a defeat and Diário  Clarín, the biggest newspaper in the country had already written about “a street kid with  the class and manners of a star”. . .

but that was not what I meant when I said he was famous… Over the years, the legend of this kid became so great, that Argentino Juniors began paying him  to go on the pitch at half time and entertain the audience… with a tennis ball or an orange,  the boy would do what the grown ups couldn’t do with an actual football… no one went to get a hot  dog at half time , they all stood and watched in awe… in one match against Boca, the crowd booed  the players when they came back from the locker room… cause they’d rather sit and watch the  kid a bit longer… before you knew it, he was on national television, going from talk show to  talk show, showing off his skills… You thought it was weird when 14 year old Xavi Simons got a  million followers on instagram… that’s nothing… Once Maradona turned 15, he had gone up 5  youth levels in the space of a year and then, with the team approaching relegation and the new  manager desperate to shake things up… he brought him up to the first team… fights broke out in his  training sessions as people came from all over the country only to find that the stands were  full and the day of his debut, as much as this has to be more myth than fact… Some people from  Buenos Aires claim that 5 million people came to watch the match… safe to say that the stadium was  overcrowded but those who made it in, got a show… In the second half, the manager called  Maradona up to the sidelines and told him: “Come on, Diego… just do what you always do…  and, if you can, nutmeg someone”. . .

. and so, the youngest player in the history of Argentinian  football, came in… and the moment he got the ball, the whole stadium yelled out “olé”. .

. he had  nutmegged someone with his first touch… By the final whistle, even the visiting stands had  given him a standing ovation… as Maradona would famously say: “That day I felt I held the sky in  my hands for the first time”. .

. 2 months later, having made only 11 appearances and scored his  first brace… out of nowhere, the national team manager, Cesár Menotti, set up a game between them  and the under-20s and…. by the end, he had already realize he had no choice,announcing that Maradona,  barely 16 years old at the time, would be joining the first team… to this day, he is still by far  the youngest, no one gets even remotely close… Still.

. . once back with his club, the madness  didn’t stop… 31 goal contributions in 49 matches, at one point, for the first time in his career,  getting the ball back from his own half, dribbling the entire team and scoring… we all just  wish the footage was a bit better… regardless, you gotta be asking, how come no one  signed him?

Well… the offers were there, but just like Pelé, at the time, Argentina  was ruled by a brutal military dictatorship and they just refused to let him go… By 1978, with Maradona now 17 and the World Cup to be played in the summer, precisely  in Argentina… he only had one goal and that was to make sure his name was on the list… over  the next few months, it became clear that he was already reaching a whole new level so  when Menotti announced the first list of 40, he was there… then he cut the list down to 25…  and still, he had made it… However, at the last minute , the military had put pressure on Menotti  to bring in Norberto Alonso and suddenly, among those 25, there were 4 attacking midfielders…  Alonso was untouchable, Valencia was like a son to Menotti and Villa… he had literally  never been called up by any other manager, clearly he meant something to him… and so… one  day… he gathered the players in the hotel’s garden and, using his age as an excuse, announced that  Maradona was going to be dropped from the team… The kid fell to the ground and sat against a  tree, tears running down his face… the only thing he could say was: “How am I going to tell my  father about this”. . .

he had promised him he would be at the world cup… the next day, El Gráfico  wrote an article about it and the title was: “The saddest day for the national team”. . .

. but  that sadness… quickly gave way to anger… only a few days later, trying to get revenge on Menotti,  Maradona dropped what was the best performance of his career so far, scoring twice, assisting  another two and then getting even more fired up when the national team ended up taking the  title without him… finishing the Metropolitano Championship as the top scorer for the first time  in his career, totalling 35 goal contributions in 35 matches… though still… Argentinos  Juniors didn’t even reach the final stage… They were, outright, a one man team, they  knew they couldn’t lose him and the next year, when Sheffield United made an offer of 850  thousand dollars, about half of what Barcelona had paid for Cruyff… only missing out on the signing  after their director of football pulled the plug, hilariously insisting that “no 18 year old could  ever be worth so much money”. .

. Argentinos Juniors sounded the alarms and signed the first ever shirt  sponsoring deal in Argentina, managing to profit just enough that they could keep Maradona for a  bit longer… and thank god they did because… just a few months later, after yet again finishing the  Metropolitano as the top scorer, he was called up for the under-20 World Cup and once more, I guess  the guy wanted to prove that despite being only 18, he belonged on the main team… because right  on the first game, he went out and scored twice, first making it past 4 players with one touch  and putting it between the keepers legs, then getting in between another 4, making his  way out and smacking it in…. eventually, scoring another in the final group stage match, going into  the knockouts, scoring from a free kick in the quarters, then a header in the semis and another  free kick in the final, to not only win the whole thing, but take the player of the tournament  and the silver boot… finally, coming back to Argentina, becoming the top scorer of Nacional  Championship as well, despite Argentinos somehow still missing out on the play offs, totalling  38 goal contributions in 32 matches and getting named not only Argentinian footballer of the year,  but also the sportsman of the year… while taking the South American Player Of The Year award…  and as I already mentioned at the beginning, being named by Guerin Sportivo as the best player  on the planet… So I leave you the question again… that year, Kevin Keegan won the Ballon D’Or…  do you think he would have won it, had the rest of the world had a say in it?

One thing is  sure… his only title was a Bundesliga and his numbers were nowhere near… but well… that wasn’t  Maradona’s best season at Argentino’s either… In 1980, despite missing a ton of decisive matches  since he was always out with the national team, Maradona not only managed to become the top scorer  of the Metropolitano for the 3rd year in a row, but led them to an unprecedented 2nd place finish,  above even the great Boca Juniors which… made for a funny story… Once in the Nacional, the  day before they were about to face Boca, the legendary Hugo Gatti was asked if he was  scared of facing Maradona, knowing that a defeat to Argentinos Juniors would mean their elimination  from the tournament and, foolishly, he replied: “they’ve been hyping up that fatty too much, he  should be worrying about his weight instead of worrying about me”. . .

ironically… I don’t think  that Maradona was worried about him at all… The day of the match, the manager asked Diego if  he was okay, if these comments had gotten to him and he replied: “I was planning on putting two  goals past him, now that I heard what he said, I’ll make sure to score at least four”. . .

so…  first, Maradona won a penalty trying to hit a rabona and scored it… for the second, he scored a  free kick from an impossible angle… for the third, he controlled the ball with his chest and hit a  kind of acrobatic volley… and to finish it all off, he made it past everyone, forcing a  defender to bring him down right at the edge of the box and… well… mission accomplished…  but even better, with 18 goals in 11 matches…. Maradona had finally led Argentinos Juniors to  the final stage of the Nacional Championship, 3 more wins and this relegation team would  have conquered Argentina… but unfortunately, Maradona had to miss the quarters to join  the national team once again and without him, they succumbed instantly… though, no matter  what, he still took the top scorer award, becoming the first man in the history of Argentina  to top the charts in four of the country’s top competitions… consecutively… he had finished his  season with 66 goal contributions in 55 matches… Having just turned 20 years old, Maradona  had already scored 116 goals for his club… At this point, it was becoming more and  more clear that keeping a player of his level at Argentinos just wasn’t right…  the tension inside the club was rising, River Plate was offering Maradona the chance to  become the most well paid player in the country, Barcelona was suddenly on his tail and the man  himself… wanted to go and save his childhood club, Boca Juniors, who were on a rapid descent towards  mediocrity… as much as the military dictatorship insisted on keeping him around for longer, well…  let’s just say that, conveniently, in February, Barcelona’s representatives traveled all the way  to Argentina to negotiate his transfer, not with anyone from Argentinos, but the admiral of the  Navy, Carlos Lacoste… matter of fact, the meeting was held in an office inside a concentration  camp but… ignoring the ethics of negotiating with tyrants… by the end of the evening, Barcelona  had secured his signing for the equivalent of 7. 6 million dollars, making it the most  expensive transfer in the history of football, nearly doubling the previous record even though it  had remained untouched for 8 years… and even then, only under one condition, Maradona had to stay in  Argentina for a year and a half more, until the World Cup was to be played… and not at Argentinos,  but on loan at Boca Juniors… meaning that, in an instant, he made it his mission to bring Boca  back to the top and went at it at full speed… In his first game, he scored two and assisted  another two, one of them with a trivela… to win 4 to 1… In his second, he clinched the 2 goal  draw, scoring both himself… then 2 goals and an assist over his next 4 matches, then coming up  against huge rivals River Plate for the first time and assisting one and dribbling the keeper to  score another, as they defeated them 3 nil… before scoring this absurd goal, just 2 matches later…  not to mention that he got an assist as well… but thought then he did slow down, 4 matches later,  he was back at it, finishing it off with 12 goal contributions in the last 14 matches… meaning  that, already, Boca had won the Metropolitano Championship… Maradona’s first ever club title…  and yet, it’s hard not to resent that season when Maradona went even harder in the Nacional, being  involved in 18 goals in 11 matches, only to get sent off in the first leg of the quarter finals  and watch from the stands as his teammates choked their lead… in fact, I dare say that with 44 goal  contributions in 40 matches, 10 of those goal coming from free kicks which, for comparison, is  two more than Messi ever managed in a season….

the guy could have won Guerin Sportivo’s World Player  Of The Year yet again… but instead, he tied Zico on 26 points, leading to a tie breaker… in which  he ended up losing and… before there was time for any second chances, Maradona was already gone… Before the next season even started, he was called up early to the national team’s training camp and  in a flash, for the first time ever, Maradona was about to play a World Cup, precisely… in Spain…  where every La Liga fan was staring into his soul, trying to figure just exactly who was this  phenomenon they had imported from the other side of the Atlantic… but if there was one thing they  all knew… it was that if they could stop Maradona, they could stop Argentina… and right on that  first match against Belgium the narrative was set… They kicked him, they hurt him, they beat  him down until the final whistle was heard… and, in the end, Argentina had lost 1 nil… and, as much  as, at first, not even this kind of abuse was able to stop Maradona from shining and making it to  the second group stage, destroying Hungary with 2 goals and all time great performance… against El  Salvador, he watched as a player kicked a referee but still walked away without a red card, proving  to him there was no limit to the violence they’d allow on the pitch and well… then came Italy… and  so did his biggest nightmare… Claudio Gentile… Argentina lost that match 2-1… but neither  of those 3 goals was what remained in the memories of those who watched it… what did  was that, before the first minute had elapsed, Gentile was already on a yellow card… as he would  go on to say: “I knew that he was only a problem, if he could get to the ball”. . .

so… he made sure  he didn’t, even if that meant he had to break him… by the end, Maradona had broken the record for  the most fouls received in a single world cup match… he had been brought down 26 times… and yet,  Gentile remained on the pitch for the full 90… and still it got worse when… with Argentina trailing 3  goals behind Brazil, at the Camp Nou, one of their players kicked Juan Barbas in the head, leading  Maradona to hit him back… being sent off in tears as he got booed by his future home crowd and got  sentenced to 4 more years of waiting until he could get another chance to conquer the world… but  not all that happened that summer was something he’d wish to forget… It was then and there,  that the butterfly effect went into action… Once a boy showed up to training thanks to  an invite from a friend, now, 13 years later, his influence had not only instilled a philosophy  of beautiful, intelligent football that made Argentinos Juniors one of the most admired clubs  in the country… but it inspired generation after generation, turning their academy into one of  the greatest in South America, sprouting the likes of Redondo, Diego Placente, Cambiasso  and Riquelme… but… on top of all of that, when the 7. 6 million dollars of his transfer  fee landed in their pockets, suddenly, they had a budget like no other club in the country…  and they made sure to put it to good use… If before Maradona they were petrified by their  imminent relegation, 2 years after his departure, they had taken the Metropolitano title and the  year after that, they had achieved the impossible, winning the Libertadores… but still, when  they decided to rename their stadium, they didn’t even consider naming it after one of the  players who was there when they won those titles… Instead, they chose the name of one who  left without winning anything at all, because, as one of their fans explained:  “If Maradona had never stepped foot in here, 50% of our history would instantly be  erased”. .

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