MARADONA THE UNTOLD STORIES
FFT celebrates the joy, destruction and downright madness of football’s most entertaining figure – via two Scudetti and an incredible World Cup
Hugo Gatti won’t forget November 9, 1980. It was the day Argentine football saw the real character of its shimmering new star for the very first time. The day when he made Diego Armando Maradona angry.
The pint-sized prodigy had carried his tag of wonderkid since a bright breakthrough in 1976, then guided Argentina to their maiden Under-20 World Cup win three years later. Even still, he remained at Argentinos Juniors, a small club with few aspirations.
Until then, Maradona had only amassed praise. That week, aged 20, he discovered his first enemy: Boca Juniors’ eccentric keeper. Maradona’s famous vindictive spirit, the fuel to fulfil his greatest deeds, was soon about to come to the fore.
“There was an interview where Gatti was saying that I was a chubby boy, that I was not what people said I was,” recalled Diego. “I hadn’t seen it, but our manager Miguel Angel Lopez did. While we were at dinner, he brought the paper and threw it on the table. ‘Look, Diego,’ he said. As I was reading, my neck vein started to grow bigger.”
Among Gatti’s comments was a claim that Maradona had ‘a chubby ass’. “He was super skinny, but I said that if he didn’t take care of his fitness, he’d become fat – his bottom looked like a nun’s habit,” Gatti later tried to explain in his futile defence.
WHEN HE WAS CALLED A FATTY – THEN GOT HIS REVENGE
On matchday, Maradona was woken up by his manager. “He came to my room and kept peppering me with this interview,” revealed the star. “He said, ‘Diego, what this keeper has been saying about you isn’t fair. It shows a complete lack of respect. You need to show what you’re capable of. You’re not a fat boy, are you?’ When I went onto the pitch, I was completely over the top.”
Gatti attempted a handshake at the coin toss, but Maradona ignored him. “I’d already imagined that if I scored, I’d put the ball under my shirt to show a big tummy – but when I netted the first goal, I just thought ‘f**k off’. Then came the second goal, and the third before half-time.”
Maradona scored four – two from free-kicks. “Before one free-kick, Gatti said to me, ‘Look, what’s been published – I didn’t say it’. Too late, mate. We were already winning 5-1.”
Boca’s crowd gave Maradona a standing ovation after his hat-trick strike; a year later he was their player, after rebuffing River Plate.
River were the richer club and offered more money, but Maradona rejected them in the open. “I’m not going to sign for River because Boca have called me,” he declared. Actually, Boca hadn’t been in contact at all – but they took the hint and made their move.
Talks were ongoing when Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors against River, and was abused by fans. Then Maradona turned up at River’s
