The day Bilardo threatened to ‘throw the plane’ if Argentina were left out of the first round of the World Cup

The Argentina national team they could not face a surprising Saudi Arabia and, against all odds, lost in their World Cup debut and will now face matches against Mexico and Poland with the need to add three. This setback brings to mind several antecedents, and one of those that stands out has to do with the Italia 90′ World Cupthe one that began with Argentina’s defeat against Cameroon and ended with the one led by Carlos Bilardo who played the final against Germany.

After the defeat against the Arabs in Qatar, Lionel Scaloni made a strong self-criticism, and provided details on how these difficult moments are being lived in the Argentina dressing room. In front of the press, the manager of the national team asked for calm, and underlined: “There is no other choice than to get up, to go on. There are two games left”. The truth is that in the context of that defeat against Cameroon in 1990, ‘Narigón’ opted for a much more radical position.

In an interview with his managers a few hours after the ‘catastrophe’ against Cameroon, Bilardo left a sentence to remember that today resonates on the networks, and that has a lot to do with the present that Scaloni’s Argentine national team lives. “He told us that he preferred to override the flight attendants, climb into the cabin and shoot down the flight rather than return to Buenos Aires eliminated in front wheel”Pedro Troglio recalls

“The ‘Narigón’ was capable of anything, so when he told us what he told us, we looked at each other, laughed a little, and at the same time believed him a little. Imagine the situation. It was terrible, the taken as a terrible thing”, rounded up Troglio, who came on the bench in that match against the Africans. These words from DT happened before the match against the Soviet Union which would have ended in a victory for the Albiceleste.

Troglio explains: “In the changing rooms at the Meazza he spoke little, but we arrived at the concentration camp of Trigoria, he gathered us all together in a sort of amphitheater and told us that we had to beat the Soviets at all costs, that he wasn’t willing there to return to Argentina with the selection eliminated in the first phase. Who jumped over the flight attendants, got into the cockpit of the plane, pushed the pilots aside, took over the controls and dropped the plane in the middle of the ocean.“.

The truth is that in this moment those words of Carlos Bilardo take on even more meaning, given that the bad start in Qatar reminds us of that feat of the Argentine national team in Italy. The fans have flooded the networks with comments on that position of ‘Narigón’, and most of them are asking for a recovery similar to that made by Bilardo’s team.

Another of the anecdotes recalls the options that Bilardo gave them before playing the World Cup in Mexico 86. “Guys, put two things in your suitcase: a suit and a sheet. The suit is for when we get off the plane if we win the Cup The sheet is in case we lose in the first round and have to go and live in Saudi”.

Argentina fell to Saudi Arabia and was left with no records

Argentina had not lost since June 2019, when Brazil won 2-0 in the semi-finals of the 2019 Copa América. They then beat Chile 2-1 in the third-place match and have since also won the 2021 Copa América, the Cup of the Champions against Italy and easy qualification for the World Cup in Qatar. With the Saudis he staked everything and was left with nothing.

Lionel Scaloni’s side were unable to keep the lead they had taken in the first half due to Messi’s penalty and, enveloped in nervousness, were overtaken by a concentrated and intense Saudi Arabia who took advantage of the absolute disorder of the Albiceleste and reversed it. The 2-1 defeat in the first game and against the more accessible rivals in group C – in theory – was a blow to confidence and meant, finally, the end of the unbeaten run of 36 games. The worst boot ever thought.