From the ‘animals’ of 1966 to the Hand of God in 1986 and the David Beckham red card in 1998, footballing relations between England and Argentina have been stormy… to say the least. The Maradona family certainly owe us one after Diego’s cheating in Mexico and the great man has now sent his son-in-law, Sergio Aguero, to Manchester to brighten up the lives of football supporters. But despite all the grief between our two nations, on and off the football pitch, Aguero will certainly not be the first Argentinian to win over the English public. After the South Americans’ 1978 World Cup triumph, Tottenham boss Keith Burkinshaw pulled off a massive coup by signing Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa for a club freshly promoted from Division Two.
Ossie ended up as one of Tottenham’s all-time greats, while Ricky scored perhaps the greatest FA Cup-winning goal in history. Aguero should lift a glass to the likes of those two pioneers because nowadays it is so much easier for foreign players to settle into English football. The City new boy certainly exploded the old myth that it usually takes half a season to settle. He didn’t even need half an hour against Swansea on Monday night. But when Ricky and Ossie signed for Spurs, they were treated with such fascination they might as well have been Martians. I’ve become friends with both of them, and they have joined me for stage shows. The fans still love them.
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Yet Ricky had to leave Tottenham – just a year after his 1981 Wembley wonder goal – and Ossie was loaned out to Paris St Germain due to the Falklands War. It was a great testament to Ossie as a player and a man that he soon returned to White Hart Lane and enjoyed more success, because those were tough times for him. And it’s also telling that despite his globetrotting managerial career, Ossie has always maintained a family home in Hertfordshire, where his two sons speak in an accent similar to mine.
Ricky lives in Argentina on what he describes as a ‘small’ cattle ranch, which is roughly half the size of Essex. But he is a frequent visitor to Ossie’s home. When you speak to them about their early years in England, it sounds as if they had a hell of a time trying to adapt on and off the field in a country where foreign footballers were rare. Even the old Chas & Dave Cup Final anthem Ossie’s Dream would be considered patronising these days, with Ardiles portrayed as some starry-eyed kid who said ‘Tottingham’ and had a funny accent!
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While Ossie and Ricky were a success at White Hart Lane, their fellow World Cup winner Alberto Tarantini had a less enjoyable spell at Birmingham City. In his first team talk with the curly-haired defender in his ranks, boss Jim Smith held a ball aloft and said in slow, pidgin English: “This white sphere is the football and those white sticks out there are the goalposts. Our aim is to get this ball between those posts.” Tarantini piped up: “But gaffer, I speak English.” To which the Bald Eagle replied: “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to the 10 other ****ers!” Smith later inherited Brazilian striker Mirandinha when he took over as Newcastle boss and found he was always going AWOL for trips back home. “He’s good in the air,” said Jim, “especially between Heathrow and Rio.”
On the whole, Argentinian players have tended to fare better here than Brazilians. It’s just a shame we are unlikely to see Carlos Tevez link up with Aguero at City – they could have been the Ossie and Ricky of the modern era. Enough to make your knees go all trembly.