Memories of another night, a World Cup football final 40 years ago

Phillip Laishram
The love of football was first introduced to me by my dad and uncles early on through their stories of the exploits of Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly known the world over as Pele, Zico, Michel Platini, Franz Beckenbauer, Gary Lineker and the likes and nearer home of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and the Mohammedan Sporting Clubs and the Manipur League and CC Meet. When I first joined Manipur Public School in Standard V, I remember my first English essay homework was ‘Watching A Football Match’ and my Baba who was an ardent fan of the game helped me with an essay of an imaginary match between Juventus and Liverpool.
Even though I ain’t a football player much less a professional I remember playing for my house, Godavari or the Blue house of Kotagiri Public School, Nilgiris where I studied till Class X and where I watched first the World Cup matches in Mexico live on the TV, the summer of 1986 at our school’s audio visual room every night after our night preps. Maybe it was the magic of the football wizard and legend Diego Armando Maradona or that our house tee shirt were the colour of their Jersey, light blue sans the stripes but since then I was initiated as a fan of La Albiceleste, the National team of Argentina. I was either in Class IX end part (Those days CBSE Boards were quite late) or just into Class X I cannot exactly recollect but I could remember the games and the matches vividly. We were allowed  to watch the matches from the Knock Out phase Live I think. There were those boyish bets and one of my best friends who was also the best football player of our school, Saeed Osman Muhammad from Sudan was supporting the Argentines passionately and we cheered the ‘Hand Of God’ Goal and the next unforgettable Goal Of the Century against England. Came the final match at the Mexico City Estadio Azteca Stadium between Argentina and Germany (then West Germany) and both of us wanted to bet on Argentina and that was the dilemma. I think the seniors (XI and XII Std boys) started a friendly betting strategy where they were taking the bet from others on any team and they take away from the losing betting students and give out to the winning betting ones so that if two want to bet on the same team, they can do so much like the betting apps now. But those days the stakes were more in terms of kind than cash being in the boarding/hostel and the stakes were Football Vest, Boots Or Chocolates mostly 5 Stars or treat in the canteen or the tuck shop
. But both me and my friend didn’t go for those common betting but wanted to go individually. Being die hard fans of Argentina, none of us wanted to bet on W Germany but having to go against each other and both cannot go for the same team and I was adamant and the lesser knowledgeable on football and we had no other choice.  So he relented and went for  W Germany. I vaguely remember him telling me that if Argentina happen to lose maybe he’ll have a tiny little comfort that he’s won the bet but he was no less a fan of La Albiceleste. I vividly remember our excitement that summer night at the audio visual room of our Alma Mater, KPS on the lofty heights of the blue mountain, Nilgiris nestled amongst the tea and coffee plantations of Kotagiri town, our voices and cheers and the wows and aws of the game and the claps, the whistle and the catcalls that echoed that night and filled the whole school campus. And the after match exciting conversation in the dormitory forty summers ago in 1986. My first WC, watching live on the TV and a win by my favourite team, lifting the trophy. My star and the legend Diego Armando Maradona couldn’t score in the final as the whole of West Germany Eleven were shadow marking him and he was fouled upon many times (If the VAR System was in place then, there might have been many more and he might have had a penalty shot granted who knows). Team Argentina won the match defeating their arch rival W Germany 3-2. The first Argentine goal was scored by Jose Louis Brown and Jorge Valdano added another one before W Germany fought back through the goals of Karl Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Völler and tied the match just 10 minutes before the match concluded which made the game much more thrilling but in the 84th minute or something of the regular 90 minute play, a supply from Maradona was nicely taken by Buruchagga and he scored the winning goal just 5/6 minutes before the stoppage time final whistle. I finally won the bet of a football vest I suppose from my friend, classmate and dormitory mate but we excitedly celebrated the FIFA Football World Cup win by Argentina.
That I had to wait for 36 years to celebrate another WC Final win by Argentina led by Maradona’s prodigy and fellow Argentina legend Lionel Messi at Lusail Stadium, Qatar against France through penalty shoot out 4:2 after scoring 3:3 each with Leo Messi scoring twice of which one was a penalty and another goal by Angel Di Maria for Argentina and all 3 goals, a Hat Trick by Kylian Mbappe for France in regular and extra time, watching it Live on a cold winter night at Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT) screening at our hometown watching along with our local fellow Argentine supporters is altogether a different story but with the same excitement of that match and win 40 years ago as a young school student of 16 years nonetheless a Die Hard Fan of the Argentina ???? La Albiceleste team, Then and Now, Always And Forever and awaiting the 4th World Cup win by Argentina and third for me watching Live (a hat trick for me) on 20th July just 3 days away at New York New Jersey Stadium, USA against Spain La Roja.
Vamos Vamos Vamos Vamos Argentina
HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE LA ALBICELESTE !
The writer is Counselor, RIMS ART Centre