DIEGO FALLS IN LOVE WITH BOCA
                   A young Diego falls in love with Boca juniors and makes an
                   unprecedented rise through the ranks. 
                   The best time was at Vélez in 1970 in a game between
                   Argentinos and Boca. You’ve got to try and picture us playing
                   with this ragged old ball all week, a disaster. So come Sunday and we saw the
                   first team’s official Pintiers, our eyes lit up... We started kicking around in the
                   interval. At some stage I shot from outside the area, the ball bounces and hits
                   Don Yayo standing by the goal smack on the head. 
                   The crowd noticed and began to laugh. Don Yayo gave me back the ball and I
                   started on the fancy juggling, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, and the crowd just wouldn’t
                   stop clapping. The first team came back on, and the ref, and this cheer went
                   up “Que se quede, que se quede!”, “Let him stay on! Let him stay on!”. The
                   whole crowd was cheering, Argentinos and Boca fans alike… But it was the
                   Boca fans that were cheering loudest... That’s one of the nicest memories I’ve
                   got of the Boca crowd. I think that was when I started feeling like I do now
                   about Boca. I knew our paths would cross one day. Football-wise I
                   touched heaven with my hands that day.

                   The papers started doing interviews and writing articles on me. I remember
                   one ’cause the headline summed up everything that was happening to me. It
                   said, “A la edad de los cuentos, escucha ovaciones” (Young enough to be
                   watching Fairy Tales, He Gets Standing Ovations).

                   Actually, it all happened very quickly. All the lads from Los Cebollitas won the
                   championship with the ninth team. Next I went into the eighth with the same
                   line-up and when we were something like ten points ahead they put me into the
                   seventh. I played two games for them and they shoved me into the fifth team.
                   Four games for them and straight into the thirds, which was where I made my
                   debut against Los Andes with an away goal. Two more games for them and
                   abracadabra... the first team. The whole thing, everything took… two and a half
                   years.

                   I’d already been training with the first team at Comunicaciones sports club. At
                   the regular Tuesday training session the manager, Juan Carlos Montes, came
                   up to me and said, “Listen, tomorrow you’re going to be on the first team
                   bench, all right?” I was lost for words so I just said “What? You what?” So he
                   said it again. “That’s right, you’re going to be on the bench for the first team…
                   And make sure you’re up to it ‘cause you’re going to play.”

                   I told La Tota and of course in two seconds flat the whole of Villa Fiorito knew
                   about it.
                   In one of the training sessions I must really have kicked ass ’cause Skinny
                   Menotti, El Flaco, came over to especially to talk to me. Every word El Flaco
                   said produced this deathly silence inside me… ‘cause El Flaco was... well he
                   was God in person! And there he was standing there in front of me talking just
                   to me, telling me that I was going to playing in the friendly against Hungary.
                   I’d be making my first appearance for my country!

                   The game kicked off and straight away, penalty. So I thought, “Right, we’re
                   going to thrash them. Get yourself together, Diego.”
                   We were twenty minutes into the second half when El Flaco called me over.
                   “Maradona! Maradona!”.

                   I got a touch straight away. Gatti gave it to Gallego and El Tolo passed it
                   straight to me. He did it on purpose and I remember thinking at the time what
                   a great show of team spirit it was. He gave it to me that early on so I could
                   find my feet, so I could get the feel of the ball. That was when I sent the ball
                   between two Hungarians to set Houseman off on his own. So I really found my
                   feet.

                   The whistle blew and Gallego came right over and hugged me. “That’s what I
                   want to see you do every game, Diego! That’s the way!”
                   I went home with my old man and Jorge Cyterszpiler, had dinner and turned
                   the TV on to watch the game. I watched a Hungarian kick me when I was
                   off the ball, but then television doesn’t hurt as much, does it?
 

~Chapter 3

Chapters Index~

Chapter 5~