May 29th 1979.
It’s not quite up there with some other famous Irish sporting dates but anyone who was in Lansdowne Road that day will probably remember it for one special reason.
Diego Maradona was just breaking through on the Argentina side and was part of the then 1978 World Cup winners squad to visit these shores to face a Republic of Ireland XI.
Maradona has just won a World Youth Championship having missed the 1978 World when he came to Dublin as a fresh-faced 18-year-old and he was introduced as a late substitute in the 0-0 draw.
Just a few days later he would play against Scotland in Hampden and would grab his first international goal.
Over the weekend the legendary Boca Juniors and Napoli player shared a picture of him in Ireland from around that trip to say happy birthday to an old friend from the international scene, Daniel Valencia.
Feliz cumpleaños “Ranita”!!!Buon compleanno José Daniel Valencia!!!Happy Birthday José Daniel Valencia!!!Fundacion Daniel Valencia
Posted by Diego Maradona on Saturday, 3 October 2015
UPDATE:
Thanks to SportsJOE reader Dave Butler we’ve seen able to track down a little but more information about the famous game in Landsdowne Road.
Dave informs us that Argentina ended up playing a Shamrocks Rovers XI and there was some confusion over whether the game counted as a full international. Dave tells us that Argentina consider it a proper ‘full’ international but Fifa don’t.
Dave also kindly sent us in the opening message from the match programme which reads:
The Argentine Football Association by their presence here tonight have made a Champion’s gesture to the cause of UNICEF in this the “International Year of the Child”. Through the good office of Mr Louis Kilcoyne both UNICEF and Shamrock Rovers will share in the proceeds of tonight’s game.
If anyone can tell us a little bit more about the trip, or where that photo may have been taken send it to [email protected] or hit us up on Facebook and Twitter
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