page_title: History of the Argentina national football team
section_title: The Menotti era: Beginning of greatness
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Argentina national football team / History / The Menotti era: Beginning of greatness
caption_attribution_description: English: Argentina national team captain Daniel Passarella holding the FIFA World Cup trophy.
context_page_description: The first match ever recorded by an Argentina national football team was played on 16 May 1901 against Uruguay, although the one played by Argentina on 20 July 1902 is considered its first official match, a 6–0 win.
  The Argentina national team has appeared in five FIFA World Cup finals, including the inaugural final in 1930, 1978 beating the Netherlands, the 1986, 1990 and 2014.
  Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it 14 times and also winning the "extra" South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and the Argentine olympic team won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
context_section_description: The demise of the team in the World Cup forced the Association to make changes in Argentine football. David Bracuto was named president of the Football Association in 1974. He offered César Luis Menotti the head coaching role of Argentina, which Menotti accepted under several conditions, one being that native players under 25 should not be sold to foreign clubs.
  Menotti debuted on 12 October 1974 in a friendly match against Spain. Argentina began a long preparation for the 1978 World Cup which would be hosted on home soil for the very first time, playing friendly matches and tournaments. During those years, Argentina played a total of 33 matches. The year 1977 was also the international debut of Diego Maradona, who played for the first time at age 16 against Hungary. The match was held in Buenos Aires with a large victory for Argentina by 5–1.
  Argentina also played a new edition of Copa América, where for the first time there was no fixed venue. All matches were played throughout each country across the tournament. Argentina debuted thrashing Venezuela but lost to Brazil in the two games played (2–1 and 1–0). Brazil qualified to the next stage and the national team was eliminated.
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  In 1978, the final preparations for the World Cup began, playing several matches against South American and European teams. Although Maradona was considered one of the best players in the world, Menotti did not include him in the definitive list for the tournament. Some sources state that the Argentine military junta that ruled Argentina by then pushed Menotti to include River Plate's midfielder Norberto Alonso instead of Maradona, and that Menotti almost certainly knew that the prodigiously talented 17-year old would not be able to handle the immense pressure and attention in the biggest sporting event in Argentina's history. Nevertheless, other journalists assert that there were too many offensive midfielders.
  Argentina finally debuted on 2 June 1978 against Hungary, winning 2–1. Argentina defeated France by 2–1 in the second game and qualifying for the second stage, although the team lost to Italy by 1–0, finishing second in Group A. In the second round Argentina was placed in Group 1 sharing it with Brazil, Poland and Peru. In the first game, Argentina beat Poland 2–0, with both goals from Mario Kempes. Next game was against South American powerhouse Brazil in which the game ended with a 0–0 draw. The last game was against Peru, a rival that Argentina easily defeated with a 6–0 win. Argentina was able to edge out Brazil in the group and went on to the final. Argentina had to beat Peru by four goals or more to progress. The nature of Argentina's victory has fueled rumors that the match was fixed.
  That large victory over Peru allowed Argentina to play the final. On 25 June 1978, at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina played its second World Cup final. Mario Kempes gave Argentina the lead in the 38th minute, with the Dutch squad able to respond in the 82nd minute for the equalizer. The game went to extra time and Mario Kempes once again gave the Argentines the lead and Daniel Bertoni added another goal which sealed the win for Argentina, which became the second South American team to win the World Cup at its home soil. Kempes was not only the most notable player of the team but also the topscorer of the tournament with six goals.
  After the success of the World Cup, Menotti continued as coach and Argentina played some friendly match as preparation for the 1979 Copa América. Maradona scored his first goal for the Senior team against Scotland in Glasgow, where Argentina won 3–1.
  The highlight of 1979 was the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship obtained by the under-20 team in Tokyo. The team, also coached by Menotti, won the tournament with Maradona and Ramón Díaz as the leaders and most notable players of the squad. The tournament was also the first official championship played by Maradona in a national team.
  Due to Argentina needing no qualifiers to the next World Cup as holders, the national team played a series of mat
caption: Team captain Daniel Passarella holding the World Cup trophy.
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