About the player who made Maradona cry at the World Cup

Unforgettable the joy of the Argentine legend Diego Maradona when he lifted the 1986 World Cup at the “Aztec” stadium in Mexico, or when he scored goals in that tournament, especially his historic goal when he brilliantly overcame the English players in the quarter-finals.

This joy could only be repeated 4 years later at the 1990 World Cup, when the Argentina national team reached the final, and again against Germany, as happened in 1986.

At that moment Maradona’s joy turned to tears, as he failed to lead Argentina back to the title after losing with a penalty kick scored by Andreas Brehme at the end of the game, but perhaps that would not have been the case, and that L ‘Argentina would not have lost if Maradona had been in that match at his best, like in the 1986 World Cup.

This not only for the level presented by the Argentine legend, but also for the presence in the match of the German player Guido Buchwald, who later became famous for those who follow the World Cup, as Buchwald was like Maradona’s “shadow” on the pitch, and was wherever he was, boycotting the balls, and sticking by them right up to the whistle at Germany’s crowning title.

It can be said that what Buchwald did was one of the reasons for the superiority of the Germans over the Argentines in that match, despite the strength of the German team at the time, with the presence of stars such as Luther Matthaus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Andreas Brehme, Rudi Fuller, Pierre Littbarski and others, but the match was played by the Argentina national team. that difficult match was the gateway for the Argentines to retain their world title after 1986.

It all started with “Cesare” Franz Beckenbauer, who was coaching the German national team at the 1990 World Cup, and who knew Maradona well after also coaching Germany in the 1986 final, and knew what the Argentine legend also presented throughout the tournament.

At the time, before the 1990 final, Beckenbauer believed that there should be a player who would be Maradona’s “shadow” on the pitch, and stick to him wherever he was, to ward off his “danger”, which meant that the Argentina national team would lose more than half of its strength, to entrust the task to Guido Buchwald. .

Buchwald recounts that confrontation with Maradona that Beckenbauer told him he would become a “national hero” if he succeeded in his mission against Maradona, and added that he looked the Argentine legend in the eye as he stood in the corridor leading to the stadium, and she said in her mind, “Today you’ll be mine, O.” Diego, I won’t let you pass in front of me.”

Indeed, Buchwald’s performance was heroic in the match, as he succeeded in his mission to the fullest. And on this he said: “Maradona was calm at the beginning of the match, but he began to show tension little by little. At that moment I understood that I had succeeded in the enterprise”.

Of course, Germany won’t forget Guido Buchwald, even if many generations don’t know him, because he wasn’t one of the first stars and big names in the world of football, but at least he will always keep the title of “hero” in front of a legend like Maradona.