SLIDING DOORS: How Argentine 1978 World Cup star Mario Kempes nearly swapped Valencia for... Spurs?
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What is the significance of Mario Kempes in football history?
Football on Off The Ball. I'd be like you, I'm taking it all in, whether I'm on Twitter or whether I'm on Instagram and I'm seeing a Troy Parrott goal or a Troy Parrott assist. I'm taking it all in. I'm milking it for all it's worth because, look, he's done remarkable things in the last year with club and country. Join in the obsession. Subscribe now at offtheball.com forward slash join.
This is Sliding Doors, offering you a view of an alternate footballing universe and some of the transfer market's biggest missed opportunities. Down through the decades, newspaper pages, sports news channel broadcasts, Twitter feeds and podcasts have been absolutely filled with talk of transfers that never happened. However, this podcast will look at the proposed moves that went beyond mere rumour and innuendo. Transfers that came within a herd's breadth of becoming reality.
How did political factors influence Argentina's 1978 World Cup victory?
A fancy film that was almost, almost made flesh. Think Ronaldo to Rangers, Michael Laudrup to Liverpool, and Mario Kempez to Tottenham? This is Sliding Doors. And the ball in for Kempez. Got a score! Young blood has done it! And it's chipped into the net! And anybody can get the credit for that, but Kempez is going to play it. It's 2-1, I can see.
Mario Kempes arrived at the Spurs training ground jet-lagged after a flight from New York. He was welcomed by Peter Schrieves.
Yes indeed, just six years removed from scoring twice in the 1978 World Cup final, that tournament's golden boot winner was hoping for the approval of Peter Shreves to breathe new life into his career. But how had it come to this? How had an Argentine legend come to be casting for an opportunity at one of English football's sleeping giants? Many caveats, mostly related to the Junta running Argentina at the time, are attached to the country's triumph on home soil in 1978.
What were Mario Kempes' achievements at Valencia?
The dictatorship was looking for a way to legitimize itself, not for its own people. They were governed with weapons, but for the outside world. According to the generals, Western civilization was on the brink of destruction. western civilization was in decay the generals considered themselves the moral saviors of the west i remember that slogan very well the dictatorship presented itself to the world as the moral savior of the west united we would all go to the games we would cheer for the goals during the world cup and applaud the government it's not just a game it's much more a means of countries getting across propaganda messages and it also has political relevance. Unfortunately, well I think for instance the Argentine regime would use it to try and make their repressive regime seem what it isn't, I mean seem nicer than it is.
It's a political public relations job for Argentina. as much as anything. But one note that needs underlining regarding that win was that it was done with a squad of which 21 of the 22 were still playing on home soil. Post-World Cup, that would change, of course, with Tottenham snapping up Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricky Villa from Huracán and Racing Club, respectively. Alberto Tarantini would land in Birmingham and Daniel Bertoni would head for Sevilla. But the only Argentina player plying their trade on foreign soil in the early summer of 1978 was Mario Kempez. A striker with a long black flowing locks had started his career alongside Ardiles at Cordoba Club Instituto before 97 goals in three seasons at Rosario Central led to Valencia splashing out 40 million pesetas that's around half a million pounds
for Kempez's services. Famously, Valencia chairman Ramón Costa had never actually seen Kempez play up to that point, but being a regular reader of legendary Argentina publication El Grafico, he'd been won over by tales of Kempez's exploits for the Rosario club. Kempez would turn out to be an unqualified success at Valencia, winning the Pachichi Trophy for La Liga's top scorers in each of his first two seasons. He'd scored 24 goals in his first season as Valencia finished a creditable seventh, but the second season was more impactful on both an individual and team basis.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the significance of Mario Kempes in football history?
0:00–0:58
2
How did political factors influence Argentina's 1978 World Cup victory?
0:58–2:07
3
What were Mario Kempes' achievements at Valencia?
2:07–5:19
4
Why did Kempes consider a move to Tottenham Hotspur?
5:19–6:58
5
What challenges did Kempes face during his trial at Spurs?
6:58–9:28
6
How did Kempes' career evolve after leaving Tottenham?
9:28–12:02
7
What impact did Kempes' potential transfer have on football history?
12:02–13:13
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from OTB Football
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