45 years of Maradona’s dream come true

The Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’ and Diego Armando Maradonatwo of the greatest in football history, if not the greatest, met on April 9, 1979 on a secret date in Rio de Janeiro arranged at the request of the then player of Argentine Juniors.

Because they are not contemporaries Pelewho died in 2022, is 20 years older than Maradona, who died in 2020; and they were only active between 1976 and 1977, because the Argentine was not born when the Brazilian won in Sweden in 1958 and was ten years old when he won his third World Cup in Mexico in 1970.

Diego Armando Maradonwas left to call for Cesar Luis Menotti for Argentina 1978 despite being on the previous list of 25 and, according to the coach, he did it “because he was thinking about ’79”, the Youth World Cup in Japan which he ended up winning. Argentina and “it’s very young and has a lot of experience like Kempes and Villa.”

The year after his country’s World Cup, Maradona turns into one of the newspaper’s main editors’The graphic‘and your friend, William Whiteto fulfill your dream of meeting Pelewhich was not easy because you had to do a lot of strings and travel to Rio to be with ‘O Rei’ without anyone knowing and not interfering with your commitments to Argentine Juniors.

Pelenow retired, just participated in a tribute to his countryman Zico and Maradonato play a Huracán-Argentinos Juniors. After the game, White and Maradona They left on a flight to Ezeiza airport, where their father was waiting for them. Maradona; the photographer Ricardo Alfierifriend of Pele; and his manager at the time, died Jorge Cyterszpiler.

They all lived in the Palace Hotel, in Copacabana. Journalists in a double room and Maradona and his team in a triple, while the Brazilian, meanwhile, is waiting for them in the mansion of the billionaire. Alfredo Saadwhere he stayed when he traveled to Rio de Janeiro.

Half secret

The secrecy of the meeting is not completely secret, because the president of Argentino Juniors, Prospero Consolimet him and tried to prevent his player from taking the plane to Rio, although his joining the Albiceleste days later was used as a safe passage for his trip to Brazil so that nothing would be disturbed.

‘O Rei’ advised his heir to the football throne and told him to “don’t” pay attention to “when they tell you that you are the best”, because “the day you feel that you are the best you will stop being the best” and “the physical This is your work tool.”

The magnetism of the conversation paralyzed a photographer as veteran as Alfierias stated William White years later, when Maradona He was crowned at the Youth World Cup in Japan after being the top scorer in the ’79 Clausura Tournament.

A friendship relationship that is not like that

Pele He gave her his watch, a T-shirt Brazilsigned a ball for him and gave him the medal given to him in his farewell to New York Cosmosalthough the friendship predicted by the meeting was not like the years that had passed.

However, despite their differences, in their last public appearances the friendship was revived and in 2005, in ‘The Night of Ten‘, lead cycle Maradona for Channel Thirteen, Pele accepted his invitation to go on the program that broke audience records.