Chapter 235: Twenty-seven consecutive victories
At this time, the camera also gave a close-up in the VIP box of the São Paulo stadium, and Maradona appeared in the camera with a serious expression, as if he was worried about Napoli's performance.
As the Neapolitans proudly say, in Maradona's heart, Naples will always have the most sacred place, just as they loved and adored Maradona.
The city of Naples, located in southern Italy, is the capital of the Italian region of Campania and the province of Naples, and is the third largest city in Italy after Milan and Rome. In addition to its natural beauty and rich history with sun, sand, sea and Mount Vesuvius, this southern Italian city also has a football legend. He is Maradona. The legend between the football king and this southern city is not only deeply imprinted in the hearts of fans who experienced that glorious period.
The Napoli club was founded in 1927 and before the arrival of Maradona, Napoli had no other record to boast about, apart from the two Coppa Italia titles in 1962 and 1976. Once Napoli, they were just an insignificant player in Italy. However, in 1984, the arrival of Maradona completely changed all that.
In June 1984, Napoli brought Argentine superstar Maradona from Barcelona for a sky-high price of $4 million. $4 million, which seems like a small amount today, was a sky-high price at the time. Napoli fans did not expect that Maradona would actually come to their side. On July 5 of that year, tens of thousands of fans flocked to the São Paulo Stadium in Naples to attend Maradona's meeting with the fans. This meeting is destined to make all those who witnessed it unforgettable for a lifetime.
The arrival of Maradona completely changed Napoli's position in Italian football. Once again, Napoli was just an insignificant football force in Italy. You must know that in the season before Maradona's arrival, Napoli narrowly escaped relegation with a 1-point advantage. In the 1984-1985 season, Maradona's first season, Napoli was only 8th in the league.
In the 1985-1986 season, Maradona became the master of the São Paulo stadium after a season of adaptation. Napoli also opened the way to challenge the top three in the North and Roma in the Apennines, only to lose to Juventus and Roma in the league and finish third.
In the 1986-1987 season, Maradona, who made history at the World Cup, continued to create his own legend in the Apennines. That season, Napoli beat Juventus to win the league title. At that time, the Italian media also had to sigh: "It was Maradona who put an end to the Platini era." In that season's Coppa Italia, Napoli once again challenged for the title, winning all 13 games. Napoli witnessed a historic league and cup double. And it was Maradona who wrote this history.
The following season, although Napoli finished runners-up in the league, Maradona won the title of top scorer in Serie A. In the eyes of the opposing defenders, Maradona was a terrifying killer.
In the 1988-1989 season, Napoli lost to Inter Milan in the race for the league title and finished second. But in Europe, Maradona's Napoli has once again ushered in the harvest. In the UEFA Cup, Maradona's Napoli even staged a good show of winning the UEFA Cup after five hurdles and six times. You must know that the UEFA Cup at that time was also a very high-value event. Napoli fans were boiling because it was the first European championship in Napoli's history.
The 1989-1990 season was one of the most dazzling seasons in Serie A. That season's Serie A was full of stars and had begun to take shape as a "mini-World Cup". At that time, Inter had the German troika, AC Milan had the Dutch trio, Sampdoria had the twin duo of Roberto Mancini and Vialli, and Juventus had Schiraci....... At that time, the absolute superstars of the football world were concentrated in Italy. Compared to the star-studded teams of other teams, Napoli only has Maradona. However, to have a generation of football kings, for Napoli, is to have the most lethal nuclear weapons. It was also under the leadership of Maradona that Napoli launched an attack on a second league title. In that season, both Inter Milan, with the German troika, and AC Milan, with the Dutch trio, fell behind on the way to catch up with Napoli. Starting from the 30th round, Maradona scored twice to help Napoli beat Juventus 3-1, and Napoli dragged down their last rival - AC Milan with a wave of five consecutive wins. In the final round, Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 to win their second league title over AC Milan. The whole city went crazy because of Maradona.
In the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the host country Italy faced Argentina in Naples. In this match, Napoli fans support Argentina over their native Italy. This is also a rare phenomenon in the history of world football where fans defect. Because, in the eyes of Napoli fans, Maradona is their God, and there is no reason why they should not support Maradona.
In 1991, Maradona was banned by FIFA for 15 months for being found to have used cocaine. Since then, Maradona has left Napoli and ended his seven-year career in Serie A. After Maradona left, the glory of Naples gradually faded. In 1998, Napoli were relegated to the second division. Although Napoli returned to Serie A in 2000, they were relegated to the second division again in the following 2000-2001 season. In 2004, Napoli were even relegated to the third division for a time. It wasn't until 2007 that they finally returned to Serie A after two consecutive jumps.
After all the hardships, the Neapolitans will remember and cherish the glory and glory that Maradona brought to Naples. To this day, on the streets of Naples, the older generation of Napoli fans still tell their children and even their grandchildren about those glorious days. They will not forget that Maradona's seven years at Naples brought Napoli two league titles, one Coppa Italia and one UEFA Cup. They will not forget the honour and pride that Maradona brought to the team and the city.
In this city, Maradona had an unrivalled influence.
"The Argentines are convinced that with Maradona at the helm, they will win the 2010 World Cup. Banderas said.
Leon smiled and didn't say anything.
Maradona is the king of the ball, but what is his ability to coach the team......
Not to mention winning the 2010 World Cup, if Leon remembers correctly, Argentina stumbled in the World Cup qualifiers and almost failed to qualify for the World Cup finals.
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In the first half, the two sides ended up playing 3:1.
Towards the end of the break, as the players returned to the pitch one after another, Leon was about to walk through the dressing room corridor and back to the pitch when he met Maradona.
"Hello, Diego!" Leon greeted.
"Ha, hello, Li!" Maradona was very enthusiastic, "I know you, you are very powerful, you have won glory for China!"
Leon smiled, Maradona's words were like the tone of some domestic leaders.
However, he can guess a little reason, Maradona himself has a good impression of China, and there have been media reports that Maradona has a good impression of Gongchanism.
Domestic media have also reported that Maradona cares about Chinese football and has said something like 'the future of football is in China'.
The two men then chatted for a while.
Within Leon's Inter Milan squad are a number of Argentine players, including Inter captain Javier Zanetti, centre-backs Samuel and Burdisso, as well as striker Diego Milito and, of course, young striker Sergio Aguero.
Suffice it to say, several of the most important players of Maradona's Argentine national team are under Leon.
Among them, Aguero has to be mentioned.
Maradona thanked Leon for his nurturing of Sergio Aguero.
That's because Aguero could not only be an international member of Maradona's national team, but could also be called the son-in-law of the football king in the future.
Because of the good relationship between Riquelme and Maradona, Aguero and Riquelme's younger brother, who is also his friend Christian, met Maradona's youngest daughter Giannina at the same time, and both fell in love with the daughter of the football king at the same time. Among the two, Giannina chose Aguero. But Christian is unwilling to lose this love easily, and still keeps calling Giannina, hoping to win back his lover's heart.
In this regard, Maradona openly expressed his admiration for Aguero, who he believes is worthy of his daughter.
Well, in a sense, Aguero is Leon's 'apprentice', Aguero is Maradona's quasi-son-in-law, and the two are still in-laws.
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In the second half, it was easy to play again.
Diego Milito was still alive and well, setting up David Silva to open the scoring with a clever cross from the box in the 61st minute.
While the commentator praised David Silva's goal, he also praised Diego Milito.
"Two goals, one assist! Although the game is not over yet, we can already say that this game, this night, belongs to Diego Milito! Obviously, under the watchful eyes of Maradona, the Argentine international is very excited!"
Then, stubborn Napoli pulled a goal back.
The goal was scored by veteran Salayeta, who fired a powerful shot in front of goal to help Napoli make it 2-4!
In such a situation, Leon made a decisive substitution, he replaced the young Aguero and replaced Adriano.
Meanwhile, Leon replaced Arshavin and replaced Patrice Evra.
These two substitutions also mean that Inter Milan has changed their formation again.
Patrice Evra-Zivo-Samuel Zanetti, the team has reverted to a back four.
Diego Milito and Sergio Aguero formed the Argentine duo of strikers and the team returned to a four-four-two formation.
This substitution and adjustment quickly worked!
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"Diego Milito!!" shouted Ferrari, the narrator, with excitement in his words.
Leon also stood up on the bench, and he was also a little surprised: Milito was in great form today, and he scored a hat-trick!
This is Carlos after the midfield cut off Hamsik's ball, quickly out of the ball, Modric sent a through ball, Aguero dribbled into the penalty area, in a narrow range of continuous dunks, shook the Napoli penalty area on their backs, sent a lateral pass, Diego Milito carried Contini and shot a blast into the goal guarded by Gianelo.
This time, in the VIP box at the São Paulo Stadium, Maradona also had a smile on his face, the Argentine players performed well, Diego Milito scored a hat-trick, and his 'son-in-law-to-be' Sergio Aguero also performed well after coming off the bench and delivered a wonderful assist, which was indeed very satisfying to him.
In addition, on the Napoli side, Argentine player Ravic also scored a goal, and the Argentine players performed well.
However, the smile on Maradona's face flashed, after all, Napoli, whom he loved so much, is now behind by a big score, and his mood can be said to be mixed with sadness and joy.
In the end, the final score of the game was 5-2, and Inter Milan beat Napoli by three goals at the Stadio Sao Paulo to win the 27th game of Serie A this season and continue to lead the Serie A standings.