Scotland warms to Maradona's Argentina

When Diego Maradona leads Argentina out at Hampden Park this evening he will be retracing not only his own footsteps as a player but also the roots of Argentinian football itself.

Scottish gratitude
Having made his international debut in 1977 aged just 16, it was two years later on the south side of Glasgow that the teenage prodigy scored the first of 34 goals for his country in a 3-1 victory over Jock Stein's Scotland. However, the incident that really cemented Maradona's place in the hearts of Scottish football supporters came in 1986 when his 'Hand of God' goal prevented England from reaching the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup finals in Mexico.

Good omen
On hearing that his first game in charge of the Albicelestes would be a friendly against Scotland at Hampden, Maradona ventured the opinion that his reputation as England's nemesis would guarantee him a warm welcome. Sure enough, on his arrival at Glasgow airport on Sunday, Maradona was mobbed by fans looking for him to sign pictures of the most infamous moment of his career.

Impressive lift
Maradona endeared himself further to the Scottish public the following evening at Celtic Park when he lifted one of the club's youth players into the night sky after the teenager found Real Madrid CF midfielder Fernando Gago's Saint Christopher medal which had been lost during a training session. However, there will be one man on the Scotland bench who will not be quite so happy to see the Argentina legend.

Infamous
Now assistant to Scotland manager George Burley – who played against Maradona in that 1979 friendly – Terry Butcher led England into the quarter-finals of the World Cup at the Azteca Stadium 22 years ago convinced that Bobby Robson's men were good enough to go on and lift the trophy. Maradona's punch past Peter Shilton and a sublime second goal from the No10 put an end to those ambitions. Other members of that England squad may have forgiven Maradona for his infamous bit of improvisation, but not Butcher. "Mind you, there will still be 40,000 people rubbing it into me because the Tartan Army love Maradona for that goal," said the former defender.

Caledonian resonance
Argentina's 1986 success has further Caledonian resonance, with José Luis Brown – one of the scorers in the 3-2 final win against West Germany – descended from James Brown, who left Scotland for South America in the 19th century. Moreover, Glaswegian Alexander Watson Hutton is widely acknowledged as the father of Argentinian football, having introduced the beautiful game into the curriculum of the English High School in Buenos Aires in 1884. In that sense, Maradona and his beloved Argentina will be coming back to where it all started when they step out at Hampden.