Described by journalist Hugo Asch as “a midget, ungainly, imperturbable, without a powerful shot, or header, or charisma,” Ricardo Bochini became the great hero of CA Independiente. El Bocha was idolised by Diego Maradona for his skill and imagination on the pitch, despite only playing five minutes plus some stoppage time at the 1986 World Cup.
“Bochini doesn’t like interviews,” the Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson once wrote, detailing the story of how they met in El Bocha’s “strangely ordinary flat” in one of Buenos Aires’ wealthier neighbourhoods. Wilson thought the player was shy, and couldn’t believe the discomfort coming from someone who was beyond instinctive as a player.
But while Bochini may not like interviews, beIN SPORTS added a video to Twitter on Tuesday in which he was uncharacteristically bashful and critical of Lionel Messi‘s coaches in South America.
In conversation with Jorge Valdano, who was on the pitch when Bochini made his lone appearance at the World Cup, El Bocha declared: “For me, Messi has something that isn’t helping him today, which are the coaches in Argentina. I see Messi alone up top, waiting to get the ball, take all the shots for three or four players. He doesn’t …read more