The Maradona Cycle
I was only a toddler on June 21st, 1994, but the events of the day are burned into my memory. On that summer afternoon in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Argentina thrashed Greece 4-0 in the first round of the 1994 World Cup Finals thanks to a Gabriel Batistuta hat-trick and the long-awaited return of one Diego Maradona.
Being only a small child at the time, I was unaware of the significance that this match would play in my life. All I knew was that I was surrounded by drunken men singing in Spanish, and I liked it. I learned my first football lesson that day: witnessing a good World Cup game live is the greatest feeling in the world. Maradona became my hero; and football, my passion.
Unfortunately Maradona was promptly suspended from the World Cup for failing a routine doping test. And here I learned my second football lesson: athletes are entertainers, nothing more. You can’t expect them to be good, intelligent, and moral people. It’s not in their contracts.
This cycle of Maradona-induced extreme joy and bitter disappointment replayed itself with Argentina’s shocking 6-1 defeat to Bolivia. I had high hopes for Maradona as a manager; we all did. For some absurd reason everyone assumes that former playing legends will be excellent managers. And at first it looked as if Maradona wasn’t going to let us down.
His Argentina side beat Scotland with some style (not that it’s difficult or anything, though) and notched a victory against traditional powerhouse France before hammering Venezuela, 4-0. Spirits were almost as high off the ground as La Paz in the Argentina camp when the team prepared for its Bolivian clash. Altitude was never much of a worry; Maradona had defended games played at altitude so staunchly it was simply assumed he knew how to prep his team.
And here’s where the disappointment began. Maradona did not, in fact, prep his players for the altitude, surely something any other fool would have taken into consideration. He didn’t study the Bolivian style of play. He didn’t create a tactical plan for his players to understand and carry out. To be honest, I’m not convinced Maradona did much of anything. And it’s a real shame, because his national pride is not to be doubted. He’s just in way over his head.
But it’s important to recognize that Argentina are by no means out of World Cup Qualifying. Sure, their goal difference has taken a hit, but as long as they stay on track, they’ll be fine. This game should not be taken as Argentina falling apart, it should be taken as a warning to remember that second rule: just because they’ve got the feet of a god doesn’t mean they’ve got the brain and judgment to match.
Topics: Argentina, Diego Maradona, World Cup
Football News 24/7
All I knew was that I was surrounded by drunken men singing in Spanish, and I liked it.
You know that’s a disturbing thought to have, especially for a toddler?
April 3rd, 2009 @ 19:53I, like many other people here in ARGENTINA, am not all that happy with maradona being our manager. But it is also true that his influence on the players is great and they’re showing more guts than they did in the last couple of years. Now, unless the world cup is being played in La paz, I’m not really worried. Plus, stating that he did nothing is speaking purely out of your ass, since I don’t think you have a pass to the training grounds here in ezeiza or in la paz. I’m not happy about the result (how could I be?), nor I’m justifying it. What I mean to do is to put some sense in the whole thing. Maradona doesn’t deserve to be so mistreated, just like he didn’t deserve to be the manager in first place. Now, he isn’t doing that bad of a job, so let the guy work.
April 3rd, 2009 @ 19:54Maik – but he didn’t do anything that he *should* have done to counter-act the effects of high altitude.
It’s a bit like Arsenal fans defending Wenger a few years ago for refusing to change his gameplan in the face of damning evidence that change was needed.
April 3rd, 2009 @ 20:39i thought diego simeone should have been given the job after what he has done with estudiantes and river plate
April 3rd, 2009 @ 21:17You sure have a great memory of USA’94 if you were a toddler. I think for Maradona this result will be a blip in the overall run. I’m waiting for a day when Carlos Bianchi takes over, but that may only happen after Grondona leaves the AFA. Maradona inspires his players, but losing 6-1 is an aberation and not an indication of things to come. I wonder how Marcelo Bielsa over in Chile responded to that news?
April 3rd, 2009 @ 22:12big egos in the argentinean side, mascherano, tevez, messi, all big players and questions over whether they will respect simeone as his achievements, though excellent, are restricted to the domestic game.
he will not have the respect instantly of the top players who play in europe, and the maradona appointment ensured that instant respect. he was to give them freedom and guidance to play. it is his second, any lamenting over the loss is an exagerated response, regardless of a craxy scoreline. i watched the game and 6-1 was harsh and it was a strange game, a fluke. they were great at venezuela and everyone should not be so quick to jump on the legends back.
to me, it seems like the media and everyone wants the guy to fail. an article like this written amidst one single altitude driven defeat when he was playing with ten men after 2 games!?
April 3rd, 2009 @ 23:03Here in argentina no one wants the guy to fall, and, weirdly, neither does the media. To Ahmed, there are things you can do to counter those effects, but in TWO DAYS? I watch the copa libertadores and the sudamericana every single year, and the altitude is something that can’t be managed from one day to an other. In this tournaments, the only way the other teams have to counter it is by trashing them at home.
April 3rd, 2009 @ 23:34And duffman, what did simeone do with river, other than taking them to the worst tournament in their history? I like the guy, but last season was simply aweful.
@Maik – “and the altitude is something that can’t be managed from one day to an other.”
Hence the irony in his stern defense for venues like La Paz and Quito to host World Cup matches despite FIFA’s suggestion of a ban. But I think 6-1 is a once in a blue moon result. You have to go back to 1993 for that 5-0 loss in Buenos Aires to Colombia for a loss of this magnitude. Despite that loss Argentina qualified (albeit the back door) and our author here was able to attend that match against Greece in Foxboro. Sitting in fourth position it’s not great, but los albicelestos have too much quality not to qualify. Maradona’s test will be at the World Cup.
April 4th, 2009 @ 04:18diego was never the best candidate. but he has done some good work. truth is argentina are the best team in the world and they WILL WIN 2010 WC!! simple as, not matter what happens in some bolivia game, and NO MATTER WHO COACHES!!! that is how good this argentina team is!!
diego will definitely hae learnt his lesson. i personally think he is FAR BETTER than the previous basile who was a DISASTER. s. batista would have been the best choice, but diego is an icon, a god that argentines listen to very carefully.
the only problem is the loss of riquelme. whenever he is absent from argentina, they simply become a disaster. i do hope riqe returns and that diego starts strengthening that backline. it doesnt matter if that backline is not so good, so long as los albiceleste score one more than their opponent.
April 4th, 2009 @ 11:03@Maik you could change the way the team plays their game to accommodate the fact that they’re not acclimatized.
April 4th, 2009 @ 16:40