The birthplace of the gods In Tenochtitlan city had a pyramid of the moon and the sun. The fall of the Aztec empire allowed Spain to rule for the next 300 years. King Carlos III of Spain created a system of dependencies that included Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia. United Kingdom, Portugal, and Brazil unsuccessfully invaded the Rio de la Plata region. Argentina and Mexico demanded independence.

Mexico 2 Belgium 1

The Estadio Azteca hosted Mexico vs Belgium in front of 110,000 supporters. Sanchez put Mexico two nil ahead with a header from a corner kick. Vanbrugh pulled a goal back for Belgium with a header at the far post.

Mexico 1 Paraguay 1

Mexico took the lead after 3 minutes when Flores tucked the ball nicely into the back of the net. A powerful header by Romero made it 1-1.

Mexico 1 Iraq 0

Iraq was at war with Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran. Neither side made ground, and the war became a stalemate.

A clever finish at the near post by Quirinte gave Mexico the victory.

Margret Thatcher made Britain more competitive by updating the stock exchange. Electronic trading would replace calling on the shop floor. Private companies were legally allowed to compete with Royal Mail. There was an economic boom known as the Big Bang.

England 0 Portugal 1

Bobby Robson succeeded Ron Greenwood as the England coach.  England lost to Portugal 1-0 after Carlos Manuel tapped in at the far post against the run of play at the Estadio Tecnologico Monterrey.

The French government exiled Sultan Mohammed. A riot broke out in Casablanca that led to Moroccan independence.

England 0 Morocco 0

England drew 0-0 with Morocco. Gabriel Gonzalez from Paraguay refereed the match.

England 3 Poland 0

England met Poland in the Estadio Universitario in front of 27,000 supporters. Gary Linker scored a first-half hat-trick to win the game for England.

England 1 Argentina 2 (Quater Finals)

Artonia Tito (Gaucho) raised cattle on his ranch in Pampas. His Criollo horse was compact with a convex head. Gaucho was small in stature with a broad chest. His daughter was elegant and proud of her horse, who walked, troted, and cantered. Right hind, right front, left hind, left front.

Tito was in the saloon with local football supporters watching Argentina vs England in the Azteca Mexico City.

Diego Maradona punched the ball into the back of the net. All hell broke loose. Was he a magician or a Con Man?  Peter Shilton ran to the referee with his hand up in the air. Computer technology has proved that Diego Maradona handled the ball.

 Maradonna picked up the ball in his half, skipped past two players, and made his way to the penalty area. Evaded the defender went around the goalkeeper and scored the greatest goal of the century. 
England plodded along and pulled a goal back through Gary Linker at the far post from a John Barnes cross. 
Gaucho was drinking tequilas in the saloon and claimed it was revenge for the Falklands war. "You know they shot our boys down like little birds".

(Quater Finals)

Helmut Kohl was the chancellor of west Germany and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union. He was a pro-EU conservative who believed in the reunification of Germany.

Mexico 0 West Germany 0 (West Germany win 4-1 After penalties.)

 Mexico met West Germany in the San Nicolás de los Garza. A  lack of goals began the Mexican Wave. Profeesional penalaty takers Brehme, Matthaus and Littbaski  won the game for West Germany after extra time and penalties.

Semi-Finals

Argentina beat Belgium in the semi-final 2-0 and both goals were scored by Diego Maradona. West Germany beat France 2-0 with goals from Brehme and Voller.

World Cup final West Germany 2 Argentina 3 

Argentina met West Germany in Mexico City in front of a 114,000 crowd Jose Luis Brown opened the scoring with a header and Jose Valdano made it 2-0 to Argentina. 

Karl Heinz Rumminiger pulled a goal back and Ruddi Voller added another. 

The game was delicately poised when Diego Maradona split the German defense apart and Jorge Burruchesa smashed the ball into the back of the net.

President Raul Alfonsin met the Argentinan manager Carlos Bilardo and the  players  at the the  presidential balcony (Casa Rosada) after the match.

Gaucho was in the saloon, singing 

"Diego blessed himself with the hand of god. 

Diego scored a goal and picked up the World Cup.

Diego, Diego, Diego Maradona, Diego, Diego, Diego Maradona".

Chapter 7