2024-04-21 07:09:57
Three decades ago, Salta would become, without suspecting it at the time, witness to a historic event for world football: the last match and goal of Diego Armando Maradona with the National Team shirt on Argentine soil.
It was the prelude to the 1994 World Cup in the United States. As part of the inauguration of the renovation of the Gimnasia y Tiro stadium, the national team had arrived in Salta to play a friendly match with Morocco that shook the tranquility of the entire north.
Salta was revolutionized with the arrival of Diego, who had prepared like never before for the biggest soccer tournament in the world. Under the orders of a young man Coco BasileIn addition to ten, they stood out Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Paul Caniggia, Abel Balbo, Oscar Ruggeri, Diego Simeone y Ariel Ortega.
“It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced,” he says excitedly. Carlos “el Coya” Castellanos, one of the legends of northern football. “We were just promoted to the first division and the leaders had told us that they were going to bring the national team and the best in the world, Maradona. “We couldn’t believe it.”
Diego being Maradona
The National Team arrived in Salta under a climate inflamed by social conflict and teacher protests, it was the 90s. The education unions had been complaining to the governor’s government for several months Augusto Ulloa the recomposition of the salary hit by convertibility.
In the midst of the euphoria of the soccer fans, white overalls and banners began to appear in the vicinity of the hotel where the players were staying. The presence of journalists from all over the country and the world was a favorable opportunity for teachers to make their claim visible.
The cries of protests only ceased each time the classic “olé, olé, olé, Diego, Diego” began, which was chanted by everyone present, without distinction between fans or protesters.
Both the entrance to the hotel and the surrounding area were crowded with police officers, which had provoked a reaction from the protesters. The tension was palpable and the clash between police and teachers was practically inevitable.
At noon, Maradona appeared behind the glass of the lobby. He ordered the door to be opened and asked those present to remain calm. “I’m with you, see you tonight,” the Captain shouted and managed to turn the boiling water into a meek peace.
“He was the only one who came down from the room in shorts and went to the door. “The guy was great at a lot of things,” he recalled. Andrea Issaformer manager of the Provincial Hotel.
At that moment, Maradona was approached by some journalists who were at the door of the hotel and he did not hold back – as never before – his opinion: “It seems to me that they have to continue protesting until education in Argentina is good. In Argentina basic things do not exist.” It was 1994.
A party, an orange and a thousand stories
That night, in the Giant of the North, there was no room for a pin. There is no Salteño, over 30 years old, who does not have a story to tell about that cold night of April 20.
The chronicles of LA GACETA that day state that 32 thousand souls were present in the stadium. However, at that time, Salta seemed like a ghost city.
One night, thousands of anecdotes. From the chants, the more than 12 hours in line at the stadium, the stars of the team and the presence of the greatest in the world. Among many, the most popular anecdote that went down in history was that of Maradona doing “kicks” with an orange.
Once the warm-up started, Maradona found an orange, started playing little games and the stadium seemed to collapse.
“Diego picked up an orange with his foot, kicked it and threw it to the stands. “The bitch was crazy, they wanted to jump on the field,” recalls “El Coya” Castellanos.
The scene was repeated again in the middle of the game, prior to taking a free kick. The scene was immortalized by the television broadcast and the story of Marcelo Araujo: “Thank you teacher, never die.”
Alfio Basile’s team won 3 to 1 with goals from Abel Balbo, Hugo Perico Pérez and the icing on the cake would come with a penalty that Diego was in charge of executing: he opened his foot and put the ball next to the goalkeeper’s right post. . Thus Maradona scored his last goal, with the light blue and white, on national soil.
For Maradon fans, that night was baptized as “the last supper,” just two months before the positive for ephedrine and his famous “they cut off my legs.”
Today, the walls of the monument do not forget that history.