Thirty years after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Diego Armando Maradona narrates, for the first time and in first person, unknown moments and stories of that unique global championship, when he led the Argentine National Team on the path to winning the world title. Looking back on it today, that historic achievement reaches the limits of legend: and he remembers and recounts, in a clear voice, how he accomplished it, along with his teammates, against all odds and against everyone.
"The time has come to tell the story as it happened. This was the true world championship of the Argentines: the most competitive, the most moving, and the most deserving. [...] We were twenty-two crazy people ready to go to war, and I managed to establish the idea that playing with the national team jersey was the most important thing in the world, even though you earned much more money wearing the jersey of a European team. Thirty years ago, we won the World Cup, the last one that an Argentine National Team lifted, with 25 dollars a day for food. It is also time to talk more about the team and less about Bilardo's system. [...] We played against the English after a war where the children of Argentina had gone to fight with canvas shoes: parents told this to their children, and the children will tell it to their own. Thirty years have passed and they still tell it."
"This is Diego Armando Maradona speaking, the man who scored two goals against England, and one of the few Argentines who know how heavy the World Cup is."
"Do you know what kind of football player I would have been if I hadn't taken drugs? I would have been, for many many years, the Maradona of Mexico. It was the moment of the greatest happiness I ever felt on the field."
"My grandfather never gave me compliments, and rarely said to me 'What a great shot you made' or 'What a great pass you gave'. But after the match against England, when we met, he hugged me and said: 'My son, today you scored a fantastic goal!'"
