3. In The Shadow Of God

La última copa/The Last Cup

NPR

Society & Culture, Sports, Documentary

4.6 • 763 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lionel Messi finally gets a chance to put on Argentina's national jersey, but something is off. His time abroad has fundamentally changed the way he plays. Things get even more complicated when the Argentine soccer legend, Diego Maradona, becomes coach of Messi's 2010 World Cup team. With Messi under increasing scrutiny, the hometown crowd begins to question if he can ever get out from under Maradona's shadow.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Last Cup is available in English and in Spanish. This is the English version.
0:06.7	To hear the version in Spanish,
0:08.8	Volve to feed and selectsiona the episode with the titulo in Spanish.
0:13.7	A warning, before we start this episode, today's story contains explicit language.
0:19.9	The first signs of trouble appeared very early on,
0:23.8	almost as soon as Leonel Messi began playing with Argentina
0:27.1	on the under-20 national squad.
0:31.5	He was 60.
0:36.9	He was 16.
0:41.8	Go! He was 16. Remember in the last episode, I told you about that friendly match between Argentina and Paraguay?
0:48.2	Okay, so that was Messi's introduction into the high-stakes world of Argentine international soccer.
0:57.7	He scored a fantastic goal. He made a big splash. But something was off.
1:09.4	Gerardo Salario, aka El Profe, the professor, was Messi's trainer in that under-20 national
1:16.0	Argentina team.
1:17.6	He was there at that game when Messi scored his first goal.
1:22.4	He played like he played in Spain.
1:24.3	When he lost the ball, he'd act like it wasn't a big deal.
1:27.6	After three years of training abroad, Salonio says yes, he played in Spain. When he lost the ball, he'd act like it wasn't a big deal. After three years of training abroad, Salodio says, yes, he played like an extraterrestrial.
1:33.4	He was just amazing.
1:35.3	But something was missing.
1:37.0	The edge, the passion, the punk rock, which makes Latin American soccer so unique.
1:46.2	I told him, here, if you don't run, they're going to kill you.
	...

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