The Story of Al Gaddafi: The Player Who Beat Maradona and Zico

"Football is not for ballerinas," said the Italian World Cup champion Claudio Gentile after he destroyed Argentine legend Diego Maradona in the two countries' match in 1982.

Claudio Gentile, the crazy defender who played in Juventus for the best years of his football career and won more than 10 titles with them.

Gentile was one of Italy's generations in 1982 and one of those credited with winning the Azzurri's first title in 50 years.

He was a staunch defender and one of the best practice examples who taught how to censor or centralize in the Catenaccio style.

Enzo Berzot, coach of the Italian national team, gave him the task of marking Diego Maradona, the most important player on the Argentine national team, and Gentile reduced the Argentine legend completely, so Maradona could not dribble and if he passed, he would be beaten and obstructed.

Before Italy's confrontation with Argentina, defender "The Butcher" studied his rival Maradona carefully via video and concluded that the jewel of the tango could be stopped, by preventing him from receiving the ball in any way.

Diego was completely suffocated, beaten, and injured by his opponent, and in the end, Maradona was frustrated and received a yellow card even before his "hitter" as a result of the excessive complaining to the referee.

A deception that surpassed even Maradona, who is known for his tricks, as the Italian defender committed  11 fouls on Maradona only in the first half, and by the end of the match and after 23 “fouls” (the outcome of what he committed against Maradona), the Juventus defender did not come out with more than a yellow card and a few oral warnings, and the most importantly, his country's 2-1 victory over Diego's country.

In the famous Brazil match in the 1982 World Cup, which Italy won with a hat-trick of Paolo Rossi, Gentile reduced the Brazilian legend Zico and made him an ordinary player after he completely failed to bypass Gaddafi.

Yes, Gentile was nicknamed "Gaddafi" because he was born in Libya, in addition to the disheveled hair that was characteristic of the former Libyan president.

Minutes after the start of the match, things developed into a hit and a pull that ripped Zico's shirt and completely paralyzed his movement. However, the Libyan-born defender did not receive more than a yellow card, even though Zico showed the referee his torn shirt.

The Juventus defender missed the semi-final against Poland due to receiving two yellow cards, but he returned and contributed to Italy's victory in the title by winning the final over Germany 3-1. At the time, he not only stopped midfielder Pierre Littbarsky but also provided the decisive pass to Paolo Rossi before the latter scored the first goal of the match.

Surprisingly, the player, throughout his career, was only exposed to one red card, which came as a result of a handball and not a rough tackle

Italy won the World Cup in 1982, thanks to a strong defense led by Gentile, Baresi, and Bergomi, although many credit striker Paolo Rossi.

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