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Uzone.id – In 1986, Diego Maradona had every reason to feel proud as he hoisted the World Cup trophy in Mexico. It was a moment of redemption, especially considering that Maradona had experienced the bitter taste of defeat just four years earlier.
At the 1982 World Cup, Argentina fell short of even making it to the semifinals. Despite being an exceptionally skilled player, Maradona was effectively “shut down” by Italy’s Claudio Gentile, a defender notorious for his rough style and for being the man who could neutralize even the most artistic players on the field.
Before the match between Argentina and Italy was held, Italy was well aware that they needed to find a way to stop Maradona. Because if Maradona was left to his own devices, Maradona would be happy to tear apart the Italian defense.
Then the current Italian coach, Enzo Bearzot, instructed Gentile to keep a close eye on Maradona throughout the match. Gentile agreed to his coach’s orders. And two days before the match, he studied Maradona’s movements via video recording.
During the match, Gentile guarded Maradona very aggressively. He did not hesitate to injure Maradona every time the Argentinian star controlled the ball. Gentile committed 23 violations against Maradona at that time. But from that many violations, he only got one yellow card.
Gentile’s rough play provoked Maradona’s emotions. In the 35th minute, for example, Maradona protested the referee’s decision not to give him a foul after Gentile pulled his shirt. Unfortunately for Maradona, his protest resulted in a yellow card for him.
Italy’s strategy of limiting Maradona’s movements has made Argentina’s game chaotic. With Argentina’s game not developing, Italy managed to steal two goals in the 55th and 67th minutes through Marco Tardelli and Antonio Cabrini.
Being left behind by two goals made the Argentine players even more frustrated. Things got worse when in the 82nd minute, referee Nicola Rainea from Romania issued a red card to Argentinian midfielder, Americo Gallardo. Gallardo deliberately pushed hard against one of the Italian players, Marco Tardelli.
Argentina only scored a goal 6 minutes before the match ended. Losing the number of players makes the struggle to equalize even harder. The score 2-1 lasted until the referee blew the long whistle.
Italy went wild after beating Argentina for the first time. This historic win marked a turning point for the Italian team, who had struggled in their first three matches.
Italy itself then became champion at the end of the competition. Zico (Brazil) and Pierre Littbarski (Germany) took turns unable to overcome Gentile’s obstacles. The 1982 World Cup was indeed a stage for Gentile to show off his ability to guard opposing players.
After the competition ended, Gentile’s game was criticized by many parties. Maradona also commented on Gentile’s game. According to the Argentinian star, Gentile’s game was far from sportsmanlike.
Gentile of course defended himself. According to him, he is just a defender with the characteristic of playing hard. As proof, he has never received a red card in his entire career. He then responded to Maradona’s criticism with a famous quote in football history, Gentile said “Football is not for ballerinas“.
Despite receiving a lot of criticism, Gentile is a role model for defenders in Italy. Despite the rough play, man-marking This player from Juventus is feared by opposing attackers. When tasked with guarding one player, Gentile always succeeded in making his opponent unable to move. He will follow the player like the player’s shadow.
Gentile’s playing style like this cannot be separated from his playing principle of attacking the opponent’s mentality with his hard play. When guarding a player, he does not hesitate to commit violations that risk injuring his opponent. Because he only has one goal, namely to make the opposing player he is guarding lose concentration. And Maradona is a clear example of the success of Gentile’s strategy.
