aAt the 82nd Academy Awards, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was won by Juan José Campanella’s Argentinian film “The Secret in Our Eyes.” Campanella co-wrote the screenplay with Eduardo Sacheri, author of the novel “The Question in Our Eyes,” on which the film is based.
A passionate and romantic soccer fan, lyrical about the ball and letters, Sacheli has written stories and novels with the ball as the main character or as a fun excuse to tell stories related to the field, the team, and the jersey. His books include “Esperandro a Tito,” “Papeles en el Viento,” “Lo Laro Empezo Despues,” and “An Viejo Que Se Pone de Pai.”
Champions League superstar chooses Team Ronaldo or Team Messi
Like many Argentines, I was lucky enough to experience the joy of lifting the cup that recognized Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi as world champions. He lives to convey what it means to fans like him to witness two eras that gave them the joy of celebrating and relishing World Cup titles with two footballers who are already part of history.
In an exclusive interview in Spanish with MARCA USA, Eduardo Sacheli spoke about the special feelings that Maradona and Messi evoke in his passion for football.
Eduardo Sacheli dreams of seeing Maradona and Messi become champions
MARCA USA English version: Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi are two monsters in the history of soccer who were the best on the planet in their respective times and circumstances. What was it like for the fans and Argentinians like yourself to live those two stages with two Argentine geniuses who are world champions?
Eduardo Saccelli: It’s a very special experience. I think what connects Maradona and Messi is that they are absolutely outstanding and unforgettable figures in the history of football, but it is true that their symbolic meaning in Argentina was different.
There was widespread absolute admiration and boundless gratitude for Maradona, and that was precisely and above all related to the 1986 World Cup. What that World Cup meant and what it meant to play against England in the World Cup.
And regarding Messi, there were more ambivalent feelings in my country. There were many people, myself included, who had deep respect for Leo, but that’s about it. Others tended to compare him with Maradona and place him at the second level, since he had not achieved such achievements in the national team (until 2022).
I think the cycle that Leo has had in the last few years with the national team has worked wonders to even them out. Well, I say they are equivalent because, although each still has a different resonance, the Argentina of 2022 is not the Argentina of the 1980s. But they are certainly on equal footing, and I think most Argentines are quite happy.
Spanish Marca USA: Maradona was kicked many times but looked invincible as he continued to play as if nothing had happened. In the case of Messi, we got to see him as a football player when they started kicking him and when he resisted the blows. Something changed within Messi as a result of the rough play, and as a result, he awakened his monster self. Is this reading correct? Is this assessment correct or incorrect?
Eduardo Saccelli: I think your interpretation of this is very suggestive and very interesting. It is about suffering and enduring the violence of a rival that may have awakened that monster. I don’t think our views are contradictory, but rather complementary. I think Messi was preparing for one last great chance, especially after the failure of the World Cup in Russia.
I think Leo calculated and said, “There is one last train.” Why do I say that? I hope that the Argentina national team will do well in the next World Cup, but given Leo’s performance and the tough, tough life of great players… I think Leo said, “My last great chance is in Qatar,” and I think that must have had a huge influence on the mentality with which he went into that World Cup.
Also, from a generational perspective, I think the Argentina national team with Scaloni as its coach has learned a great lesson by surrounding Messi with young talent. In other words, most of the world champions in Qatar knew that they were helping make Messi a champion. That is something very beautiful. I think this “one last great challenge, one last great dance to be able to collaborate with Messi” had something to do with it.
Marca USA: What do you think about the phenomenon that Messi played for Inter Miami and that he had such a huge influence that a country that was thought to be less adept at soccer, the United States, is now deeply involved in the sport?
Eduardo Saccelli: Leo belongs to an era when global idols have great influence thanks to social networks and the circulation of information. Leo belongs to the mature stage of this potential. Because Maradona was a global phenomenon before globalization.
I think one of the great things about Diego is that he was ahead of the world in the sense that he was a global figure at a time when the technological conditions for globalization were not yet in place. But Diego achieved it.
Leo now believes that his reputation and qualifications, combined with these possibilities, are creating a situation where what is happening in the United States is that the country is looking at the sport a little sideways. Now, having a magnet representing Messi makes him even more appealing.
