The World Cup was in full swing. Minutes earlier, Argentina's ruling military junta's bird-like, moustachioed commander, General Jorge Rafael Videla, announced to the approximately 80,000-strong throng that the tournament would be played under a peace symbol. The statement provoked laughter and applause from the crowd. But just hours later, the joke became reality when Argentina defeated England 2-1 in Rio de Janeiro to win its first championship.
Videla had declared the match after learning that his army could not protect all of Brazil from violence. In addition to protecting cities from guerrilla attacks, the armed forces had been ordered to suppress left-wing demonstrations against the government.
Argentina's victory over England made it only the second South American country (after Uruguay) to win the World Cup. It also marked the end of Britain's participation in the event. A few days before the final, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had announced her resignation, leading to calls for a boycott by British athletes.
Videla was appointed president by the military council two months earlier, on March 11, 1976. He took control of the government despite being out of action due to health problems related to kidney surgery he had several years earlier.
His appearance at the ceremony was the first time since his surgery that Videla had been seen in public.
Argentina won the World Cup for the second time, eight years after their first win on home soil. Diego Maradona was named Best Player of the Tournament after scoring five goals and assisting in a 3-2 victory over Jorge Burruchaga in the final in the 84th minute. The game drew a record-breaking crowd of 114,600 spectators.
Argentina '78 was the country's first World Cup hosting, and it came two years after a military takeover that resulted in a fairly contentious event. Argentina was on the verge of quitting the competition in the second round.
Argentina won the World Cup for the second time, eight years after their first win on home soil. Diego Maradona was named Best Player of the Tournament after scoring five goals and assisting in a 3-2 victory over Jorge Burruchaga in the final in the 84th minute. The game drew a record-breaking crowd of 114,600 spectators.
Because Brazil was a widely favored squad at the time, the incident, also known as the Maracanazo, had a huge influence on the history of the sport. Uruguayan football players include Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona) and Diego Forlan.
Uruguay has competed in every FIFA World Cup with the exception of 1934 when they did not enter South America's first continental tournament. The team's best performance came in the 1950s when they reached the quarter-finals twice. In 1930, after losing their first two games by an aggregate score of 10-0, they defeated France 4-1 in one of the most memorable matches of all time. In the second half of that year, however, they lost all of their remaining games 3-0 to host countries Brazil, Argentina and Italy. In 1958, again facing Brazil in the quarter-finals, Uruguay was defeated 1-4 at home and 2-1 away from home.
Besides winning the gold medal at the 1928 Olympics, Uruguay has also won the South American Championship seven times. They remain the only country to have done so.
As for individual honors, there are many great players from Uruguay.
The official documentary record of the 1986 soccer World Cup, focusing on Argentina's captain, Diego Maradona. Alanna Ubach tells how "Looney Tunes" influenced her to become an actress. Do you want to display IMDb's rating on your own website? Use the HTML code provided below. To use the IMDb rating plugin, you must be a registered user.
Diego Armando Maradona de Macarty is a retired Argentine football player and manager. He played as a forward and was known for his energetic playing style, ability to score goals from free kicks, and his skill with the ball at high speeds. Maradona is also noted for his erratic behavior on and off the field, his efforts to improve his image by changing his look (including wearing a hairpiece), and his role in developing football in Argentina. In addition, he is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the sport and is considered by many to be the greatest footballer in the world.
He was named World Player of the Year by Time magazine in 1990. That same year, he was selected by Pelé as one of the ten best players in the history of the game. On 5 November 2010, Maradona was admitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires suffering from symptoms related to a kidney infection. The following day, it was reported that he had been taken off the transplant list. In April 2011, it was reported that he was again being treated for a gastrointestinal virus.
Ernesto Alvear, the chairman of Magallanes, attended a FIFA Congress in Helsinki during the 1952 Summer Olympics. He believed Chile was capable of hosting the World Cup. Several reports also claim that FIFA did not want Argentina to run alone, instead asking Chile's participation as a symbolic gesture. However, no official reason has ever been given for rejecting Chile.
Alvear died in office in July 1962 after a long battle with cancer. His death left a power vacuum at the head of FIFA that was never filled. As a result, Switzerland's Otto Pfister was able to take control of all international football-related matters until 1971, when he too died.
During this time, several countries had tried and failed to get on the list of host candidates. In 1978, Mexico had been scheduled to hold its own tournament but had to cancel it due to lack of funds. The country had been selected by FIFA as one of the hosts but later withdrew because there were problems with security and funding. No other country has yet to host FIFA's flagship event.
In 1986, FIFA decided to award the World Cup jointly to Spain and France. Both countries already had successful tournaments under their belts so it made sense to them. They agreed that each nation would host a quarterfinal match during the last four years of the contract.
Messi may have one more chance to win a World Cup before he retires at the age of 31. There will always be debate over a World Cup team, and Argentina's team is no exception. Key players who appeared to be in line for a position on Argentina's roster, such as Alejandro "Papu" Gomez (Atalanta) and Fernado Gago, were omitted. However, there are several reasons why they might not have been selected by manager Gerardo "Tata" Martino. First, both players had serious injury concerns prior to the tournament. Papu Gomez missed most of the 2014-15 season with a knee injury, while Gago has spent much of the past two years recovering from surgery on his right foot.
The decision not to include these two players in the squad could be interpreted as either a mistake or a strategy on Tata Martino's part. It's possible that both players will be given opportunities later in the year when Argentina faces lower-division opponents in domestic competitions.
In addition to these two players, there are another four forwards on international rosters who could possibly replace Aguero if he misses out on the tournament: Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (Manchester United), Carlos Tevez (Bolton Wanderers), Lucas "Lucho" Acosta (Santos), and Maximiliano "Maxi" Rodriguez (River Plate). Although none of these players are likely to start every game, they would provide valuable depth should any of their teammates get injured.
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