The day Diego Maradona gave Australia an anecdote that the current DT dusted off to motivate the team

Once the crossing between Argentina and Australia was confirmed, it immediately came to the memory of the Argentines of 1993 World Cup Playoffs, a tense draw because for the Argentines it implied the possibility of being excluded from a World Cup, which had only happened in 1970. Finally, with the return to the national team of Diego Armando Maradona, the albiceleste managed to qualify for the 1994 USA in a tight fashion (1-1 away and 1-0 at home).

A distressing story but with a happy ending for Argentina, although it is too the distant memory is still good for Australia, despite the defeat. This is due to an anecdote related to that crossing, and the protagonist was Diego.

Everything that surrounded those duels is well known, but it’s worth remembering. The historic 0-5 against Colombia at the Monumental on the last date of the Qualifiers, he forced the World Cup qualification to play hand in hand with the oceanics and, at the same time, led to a unanimous request for the return of Ten, which was not part of Alfio Basile’s plans.

The feeling of knowing that in small details the national team could be excluded from football’s biggest event was distressing, after having been champions and runners-up in the previous two, and that the greatest idol, most likely, would never play a Cup again World.

Those ghosts are gone two months after that painful defeat against Colombia. On November 17, 1993, a 1-0 victory at the River stadium with a goal of Gabriel Batistutaafter drawing 1-1 as guests (goal from Abel Balbus and Aurelio Vidmar) on October 31st, it was like poking my head out of water after spending a long time without breathing.

On the other, the disappointment of the Australians, even if an anecdote will remain forever. paul fordcaptain at the time, he was in charge of marking Maradona. “If he goes to the bathroom, go with him”were the indications of his technician.

His work, and that of the yellow team in general, has been very good. For this, as a main reference, he was invited to a television program. It is unknown whether Maradona was tipped off or was watching TV at the time, but he discovered Wade was there and answered the phone.

“They put it on the air,” she recalled emotionally, “and she said to me: ‘Paul, congratulations to you and your team on how you played. They pushed us to the limit. Your tears of sadness will soon be tears of joy‘”, he said in dialogue with the Australian media Herald and The Age.

​Almost thirty years later, these two teams will face each other again, now in a World Cup, and Maradona’s words come back to the present in the form of motivation for them. They know that this Saturday they will end up crying, but they dream that those tears are of joy.

The other bell of the awaited crossing

“Anyone who thinks Australia will be easy is wrong.” She said Lionel Scaloni after the convincing victory of Argentina national team over Poland and qualification for the round of 16 Qatar World Cup 2022. Although the message of humility that the coach lowers is understandable, it is also true that the Argentines celebrated that this was the next rival, with players from a much lower hierarchy.

“If Saudi Arabia could, we can too. They are hurt”he says on the other side paul ford the historic Australian captain who participated in the remembered playoffs of the World Cup.

This is how things are brought up in the previous one. The favoritism is evident, even more after the level shown by the Argentines against Poland, but on the other hand they intend to complicate things Lionel Messi and company and cling to the illusion of giving a blow. And they think they have what.

The main support of that illusion is knowing it They have already managed to beat Argentina in the past. The record favors the albiceleste with a balance of five wins, a draw and a defeat, but that defeat is well remembered among Australian fans. They were 4-1 up in a friendly played in Sydney in July 1988, with a great goal from a 35m free-kick from Charlie Yankos.

​His teammates from that period still joke that he carries a DVD of his goal in his jacket pocket, ready to show anyone who asks. In times of more advanced technologies, you should WhatsApp him in Doha so that your old colleague Graham Arnold (team coach) show it to his players so they end up trusting that he can definitely hit?

“They won’t need to,” laughed Yankos in recent remarks. “If we play together as eleven men, confident we can win, you never know what can happen. Against Denmark they made no mistakes and put in a great performance,” he commented, enthusiastic about the fact that the Socceroos keep moving forward in Qatar.

Milos Degenek, yellow team defender, spiced up the previous one: “Messi is the greatest, but it’s not an honor to play against him. The honor is to play in the round of 16 of the World Cup. It will be an 11 against 11 game and there are no 11 Messis. We can win”. This is how they live the days and hours preceding this duel, as if to take them into account.