From the Chilean of Francescoli to the last lap of Maradona with the national team: myths and legends of the world championship in Mar del Plata

Giuseppe Maria Minella it was extraordinary middle half, as it was called in the 1930s at the central steering wheel. He was born in Mar del Plata, became known to Gym and it glowed River and he was multiple champion as a player and as a coach. Between 1933 and 1941 he played 23 games with the national team, and between 1964 and 1968 he was a coach, in two halves, for a total of 21 games. The world Cup It has been named after him since 1998, on the initiative of the journalist Mario Trucco. Now Minella, the stadium, is one step away from becoming the home of the national team.

Mar del Plata had the General San Martín Municipal Stadium and when the city had already been approved as a secondary venue, the idea was to reform the old stadium with a capacity of just over 10,000 spectators. But in April 1975, a FIFA report threw intentions overboard because it required many reforms. A new one had to be made. And in May 1975 the Municipal Sports Park was chosen as the site for the construction of the new stadium, with a capacity of 42,563 spectators.

In November 1976, a magazine investigation The graph He specified that 800 workers were involved in the construction, that there were 44 shifts per week and that only 30% of the work had been completed. Finally, the World Cup stadium or Mar del Plata Stadium, as it was called indiscriminately, was inaugurated on May 21, 1978, with a friendly match between Mar del Plata and Tandil, which ended 2-2 in a draw. and there were more than 40 thousand people.

Six games of the eleventh World Cup were played there. The top three came from group 1, which included Argentina with Hungary, France and Italy. Since Argentina has always played at Monumental, the other fights have been at La Feliz. Italy beat France 2-1 on June 2, Italy defeated Hungary 3-1 on June 6 and qualified for the second round, while France beat Hungary 3-1 on June 10. .

In this match, the French played with the Kimberley shirt, since FIFA has asked for the change of clothes of one of the two (France used blue and Hungary the red) because like television for Argentina it has still reached most of the houses in black and white. The two brought the substitute’s shirt to the stadium: white. To correct the mistake, they borrowed the shirts of the historic Mar del Plata club, a green-and-white with vertical stripes, which the French used.

The other three games of the group stage were those of group 3. On 3 June Sweden and Brazil drew 1-1, the day Welsh referee Clive Thomas unusually canceled Zico’s goal after a corner in the 90th minute, because he whistled the final with the ball in the air; on 7 June Brazil and Spain drew 0-0 and on 11 June Brazil beat Austria 1-0 and qualified for the second round.

After the World Cup won by Argentina, the stadium was mainly used to host traditional summer tournaments. On February 8, 1986 River defeated the Polish national team 5-4 with an extraordinary Chilean goal from Enzo Francescoli.

In the standstill stadium of the World Cup, Diego Maradona lifted a cup with Argentina for the last time. It was February 24, 1993, when Argentina, champion of America, played the Artemio Franchi Cup with Denmark, champion of Europe. The match ended 1-1 and the albiceleste won on penalties 5-4.

Prior to that celebration, Argentina had only played once in the World Cup, on March 9, 1982, 0-0 with Czechoslovakia. Then four more games. On December 28, 1996 they lost 3-2 to Yugoslavia; on February 24, 1998 they beat Yugoslavia 3-1; on 10 February 2010, already under the name of José María Minella, he beat Jamaica 2-1; and on April 20, 2011, they drew 2-2 with Ecuador. All five matches were friendly.

The stadium was also the site of the Pan American Games in 1995, the Under 20 Youth World Cup in 2001, the International Rugby Sevens since 1995 and numerous boxing matches.

There are also numerous recitals: from the visits of Queen and the Police in the 80s, to Luis Miguel, Joaquín Sabina, Chayanne and La Renga, among many others.

Now, the AFA wants it to be Argentina’s Wembley, the home of men’s and women’s, senior and youth teams.