History

“Brazilian, Brazilian, you look bitter today/ Is it that Maradona is better, better than Pele” you hear thousands of Argentinians chanting, jumping and waving their arms, mocking their neighbors over the Maradona vs Pele debate. For they think Diego was better than O’rei (The King) Pelé, but truth is that in the albicelestes' hearts, Diego was the greatest of all, not only on top of Pelé, but also of the other Argentinian legends like Leo Messi or Alfredo Di Stefano. All four of these players could be argued to be the GOAT, so why Diego Maradona in particular?

In 2011, the United States took a 2-0 lead over Mexico in the Gold Cup final. A coworker of mine at the time, who was supposed to be covering a baseball game for the newspaper we worked for, tweeted: “THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!!!” This despite the fact he had, earlier that week, found out his wife had finally become pregnant after years of trying. For me, it was just another in a long line of memorable moments from the thrilling USMNT vs Mexico rivalry.

Exactly 10 years ago Thursday, the Argentina national team won gold in soccer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It remains as Lionel Messi’s greatest triumph at the international level. 

So what's happened to the players since?

The 2008 Argentina Olympics squad was absolutely loaded with talent. Youngsters like Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Ángel Di María, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Éver Banega and Pablo Zabaleta were just starting their careers. They were joined by over-age player Javier Mascherano (then just 24 himself) and led by the serene Juan Román Riquelme.