Diego dazzled young Buckley on Irish tour
FOR a while yesterday Liam Buckley forgot about an empty Tallaght Stadium, venue for Sunday’s Extra.ie FAI Cup semi-final, and he was taken back to a throbbing River Plate Stadium, all ticker-tape, noise and a certain Diego Maradona.
It was the last day of April 1980 and Buckley, just turned 20 and on the books at Shamrock Rovers, was part of the League of Ireland squad who travelled to Argentina for an end of season tour devised by former FAI president, Louis Kilcoyne.
Some 40 years on, the Sligo Rovers manager recalls the occasion with a sense of appreciation that he got to share the pitch with Maradona, ‘the greatest player of my era’.
‘He was already being mentioned as a very good player but in the match, he was fantastic,’ said Buckley.
‘I remember he nutmegged one of our lads in the middle of the park, ran through and scored from the edge of the box.’
Did Buckley think of asking for Maradona’s jersey at the final whistle?
‘No I didn’t. If I had known what was to come, I’d have probably gone after him alright.
‘I did not know that much about Maradona at that stage because he was only 19 or 20, like myself, but I learned a lot afterwards, he was arguably the best player of my generation.
‘He was a wonderful player. He had great balance, great technique. For a small guy he was built like a tank. He was very difficult to get close to.
‘He could do everything. He could head the ball. He could handle it also, as we saw in the (1986) World Cup.
‘His technique was fantastic and he was so quick off the mark. So strong, so powerful running with the ball. He had everything.
‘He was a superstar. If I mention some of the top players from my era, he was the best of the lot of them. By a stretch, he was the best for me.
‘If you said to me pick him or your Ronaldos or Messis, all fantastic players...he was brilliant. I’d argue to put him ahead of them.’
Buckley’s playing career took him to Canada, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland, but he has special memories of that League of Ireland tour, and playing in the River Plate Stadium.
‘All the ticker tape, the place was jam-packed and I could just hear t he national anthem through the mire of noise. It was a crazy sort of scenario but a
Eye on glory: Buckley with his Sligo players
great and fantastic occasion.’
‘ The game in the River Plate Stadium reminded me of the 1978 World Cup f i nal when Argentina beat Holland. It was just surreal.’
Two years earlier, the League of Ireland lads caught a glimpse of a teenage Maradona when they lost 3-1 to an Argentina team preparing to host the World Cup finals, Leopoldo Luque, Oscar Ortiz and Ricky Villa scoring the goals.
Chain-smoking manager Cesar Luis Menotti treated the Irish visitors with respect as nine of the XI, plus substitute Daniel Bertoni, started the 1978 World Cup final.
Maradona, then 17, came on as a substitute for Villa against the League of Ireland, but was then controversially left out of the World Cup squad.
‘They didn’t pick him in 1978 because he was too young. They had a lot of big players.
‘What a career he had, in fairness,’ said Buckley, who now moves on to Sunday’s reunion with Shamrock Rovers, the club that links him to that famous day with Diego in the River Plate Stadium.