Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Alfredo Di Stefano in Guayaquil, the only city on the planet where the trio appeared in the Argentina shirt | football | Sports

Guayaquil will proudly be able, starting Tuesday, to display a unique sports record that can never be broken. It is poised to be the only city on the planet in which the three best Argentine footballers of all time have played in the Albiceleste shirt, at least once: Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi (for some experts one of them is, in addition, to the best taste in world at all times worldwide).

Not even the home country of this wonderful trio of ball geniuses could get a chest for their presence on their court, at some point in history, dressed as Argentina. This happens with Guayaquil because although Maradona and Messi played friendlies, America’s Cup, and knockout matches in their stadiums, Di Stéfano only lined up for his team during the 1947 South American Championship, a tournament held entirely at George Capwell, the Amelec Sport Club.

The Three Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras) may have given concerts in Rome, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Paris, Yokohama, New York, London, Madrid, Toronto, Melbourne, and other cities of the world, but none were those great cities on their courts, in the colors of Argentina, and blonde arrowto fluffand the flea. Guayaquil, yes.

When Lionel Messi, with his captain’s squad, steps on the lawn of the Monumental Pichincha to lead the River Plate squad that will face Ecuador in the final Qatar 2022 before the World Championships, the three Argentine Mosqueros will have completed, after 75 long years, their journey through the stadiums of Buenos Aires.

Di Stefano

On the official Real Madrid website, about Di Stefano (1926-2014): “The best player of all time. He attacked, defended and did everything well. Leader on and off the field. to earn. This was the only word in Alfredo Di Stefano’s dictionary. The absolute dominant in Spain and Europe, Real Madrid It revolves around his immeasurable personality. He is the only player in the world to have the Super Ballon d’Or, which he won in 1989.

And the AFC portal highlights that “with the Argentine national team, in 1947, he became the champion of the Copa America, where he was the team’s top scorer along with Norberto Mendes, both of whom achieved six victories.”

magazine Drawin a special called National Team Idolsin 2014 posted this from blonde arrow: “Triumphs in Argentina, Colombia and Spain; I would have succeeded even on the moon. Within the objective of football, given his speed and class, Di Stefano is considered one of the best footballers the planet has seen (…) In 1947 he won his only title with the national team: South American Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, contributing 6 goals to the conquest.”

Only in Guayaquil

What was not highlighted is that in this port, in that legendary tournament, Di Stefano only played his six matches as a footballer. The then-River Plate striker arrived as a replacement for Rene Pontine. “Argentina presented a formidable offensive line with Mario Bouyer, Norberto Mendes, Rene Pontoni, Jose Manuel Moreno and Felix Lusto. Alfredo Di Stefano was a substitute,” he recalls in the book. CONMEBOL 2001.

On December 4, 1947, Di Stefano, 21, made his Argentina debut. He came off the bench, in Argentina’s second Copa America duel. It was “against Bolivia, a hot and humid night in coastal Guayaquil”. He scored a goal in a 7-0 Crushing Heights at Capwell. On December 11, he was already key in the 3-2 win over Peru and no longer lost this place.

“Pontone, whose importance has long been demonstrated, had to give way to the greatest discovery of Argentina in 1947,” he said. Draw About Di Stefano, who was formed as a superstar in Guayaquil. On December 25, in the match against Ecuador, the best player in the world could not score against goalkeeper Napoleon Medina Fabre. been taken care of Sharoo brown and Tocho Mendes in the 2-0 win that was declared three-time American champion 72 hours later.

Maradona

Diego Maradona played friendly matches with Argentinos Juniors and Boca in Guayaquil and Quito, but the only match the huge footballer, the 1986 world champion played in Mexico – as an exclusive in that tournament – was played with his Ecuadorian side at Monumental Stadium on May 25, 1994. It was So at the beginning of the tour in Argentina, before the World Cup in the United States.

In its May 31 edition Draw He summed it up as follows: “The local federation urgently appointed Carlos Torres Garces as interim coach (…) After a long break, Ecuador met again on Monday 23 May, yes, two days before facing Argentina. Ecuadorian fans trusted themselves to God. They believed That Argentina will crush them led by Diego Armando.”

appeared once

And although in the match with Tricolor Maradona he “only appeared once”, as EL UNIVERSO noted in his review, the presence of fluff Huge expectations were born in the city. Guayaquil had missed seeing Maradona at the 1993 Copa America because the “ten” were serving a suspension sentence for using banned substances.

He identified one of the most powerful proponents of the art of football as Draw in private National Team Idols: “Witch Gambetta. Inexhaustible talent. Accurate punch. Left-handed devil. Naughty in the neighborhood. Best in the world. All that was Maradona, the greatest emblem of the national team in its entire history. Commitment. Desire. Paganism. Desire. Splendor. Winning mentality. The lack of fear. The abundance of excellence. The brilliant, deadly and luxurious attack. Diego embodied it all. The best ever? Messi would say it.”

It surprised and defeated Ecuador 1-0 in 1994, including Maradona, one of the top candidates for the coronation in the United States. Draw And he spoke of “the sad night in Guayaquil, which became an unexpected and painful defeat when Byron Tenorio beat Jose Chamotte in a jump and header, hitting the ball at the right post of Sergio Goiocochea.” (Dr)