Alright so yesterday I got obsessed with this idea: how did Maradona blow up like crazy during the ’86 World Cup? Like everyone knows his name but I wanted to dig deep. Grabbed my laptop around breakfast time and just started googling like mad.
First the basics
I watched like 20 different clips of Argentina matches from that cup, mainly on football archive sites. Kept replaying that England game where he scored both goals – the “Hand of God” and that insane solo run. My coffee went totally cold because I kept pausing to scribble notes about how he moved. That second goal? Man dribbled past half the English team like they were traffic cones.
Context hunting
Realized I couldn’t just talk goals. Dug into old newspaper archives about the Falklands War stuff. People forget England and Argentina were basically enemies off the pitch too. Found this nasty British tabloid headline calling Maradona a “cheat” after the handball incident. That’s when it clicked – the drama wasn’t just about football. The dude became this massive lightning rod for political garbage too.
Stats digging
Pulled up his tournament numbers: 5 goals, 5 assists. But numbers lie. Watched every single Argentina game again paying attention to what happened when he touched the ball. Crazy pattern – the entire opposing defense would panic and swarm him like bees whenever he got it near the box. Even when he didn’t score, his passes ripped teams apart. Made bullet points:
- Carried ball more than anyone
- Fouled constantly (got knocked over 53 times!)
- Created chaos just by existing on the field
Putting pieces together
Around 3PM I had all these messy notes everywhere. Started seeing connections: Maradona was perfect TV material right when satellite TV was going global. Those solo runs? Perfect highlight reel stuff. That handball? Controversy sells. Wrote down: “He wasn’t just playing football – he was creating soap opera episodes“.
Final thoughts
By dinner time it clicked. Maradona became gigantic because he mixed insane talent with pure theatre. That cup wasn’t just goals – it was underdog story (Argentina almost didn’t qualify!), political drama, and one short angry dude embarrassing entire defenses. Went to bed realizing no player’s ever owned a tournament like that since. Guy turned 90 minutes into pure magic.
