Diego Armando Maradona with the Alhi shirt.
Al-Alhione of the biggest teams Saudi Arabia, was relegated yesterday for the first time in its history, after the draw against Al-Shabab. The campaign was very poor and he finished in fifteenth place, out of sixteen teams. In thirty games he has achieved six wins, fourteen draws and ten defeats. A harvest diametrically opposite to that of Al Hilal by Ramon Diaz, three times champion, after the 2-1 victory against Al-Faisaly.
This historic club was founded in 1937 in the city of Jeddah. It is one of the largest teams in Arabia, as it has 31 national titles – 3 of Saudi Arabia’s first division, 6 Crown Prince Cups, 13 King’s Cups, 5 Saudi Federation Cups and 1 Saudi Arabian Super Cup. and 4 international tournaments -1 Arab Champions League and 3 Gulf Champions Cups-. Currently its owner is Prince Fahad bin Khalid and its coach is the Uruguayan Robert Dante Siboldi.
Throughout history, seven Argentines have passed through the club: three coaches and four footballers. Left-handed Miguel Angel López was the club’s manager in 2000. Gustavo Alfaro also led the team, albeit only for a semester, in 2009. Finally, Pablo Guede was the last Argentine to wear the Arab team sweatshirt. : in 2018 he conducted 25 matches and 2019.
Lettuce on its way through Al-Alhi.
As for the Argentine players who wore the club jersey, we can name four. Javier Toledo and Sebastian Rusculleda played together for just one semester in 2009. The striker left a good memory with 8 goals in 15 games, while the midfielder had a much more discreet cycle before joining San Lorenzo. The next Argentine to play there was Diego Cachete Morales, who played six games and scored two goals. But, without a doubt, the most memorable and extraordinary step was that of Diego Armando Maradona. Even if it were just for one game.
The story of Pelusa in Saudi Arabia
Those with memories will remember Al-Alhi as the team he was able to count on Diego Armando Maradona for a single game. It was November 11, 1987, the 50th anniversary of the Saudi club, but the focus was on “10”. Jalled Abdallah, the club’s sheikh, was in charge of sending the invitation to Diego and the response was positive.
Flyers announced that the 10th would be in Saudi Arabia.
The opponent was the Brondby SE Danish, who at that time had great figures like Brian Laudrup Y Peter Schmeichel. The match was played on Fifa, and the man born in Villa Fiorito did not hesitate to say present. The big drawback that arose at that time was the Naplesa team that owned Maradona and feared that his larger figure would suffer injury.
The day Maradona played in Saudi Arabia.
There was a lot of money on the table and very difficult to turn down. A sum that made the offer enticing enough for Pelusa to play that game. In theory the figure was one hundred thousand dollars, but the Italian media assure that the figure amounted to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. All those dollars, in just 90 minutes.
Finally, in the city of Jeddah and in front of a stadium that housed about 60,000 people, Diego Armando Maradona wore the Al-Alhi shirt. The match ended with a 5-2 victory for the Arab team and of course the Argentine made his own, scoring two goals and serving three assists. A stellar performance by the Pibe de Oro, who was at the best moment of his career and only a year ago had won the World Cup in Mexico with the Argentine national team.
It seems difficult to find stories about Diego that haven’t been repeated ad nauseam. However, sometimes there are such as these that emerge from the depths of a treasure trove of infinite memories. With Diego, at unexpected latitudes. As always, with Diego, at the center of the scene. Many years later, there would be new 10 stories in the Arab world, but now in his role as DT.
Source: Clarin
