Taff Rahman, left, with coach Christian Nunez

Published: 13 June, 2014
by TAFF RAHMAN

AS I arrived in Buenos Aires I honestly didn’t know what to expect. My knowledge of Argentina was the same as most of the football fans that I’d grown up with in Camden.

I could easily recognise their iconic sky blue and white kit.

I knew all about the magic of Messi and I had grown up hearing my fair share about Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal against England in the  1986 World Cup. 

What I didn’t know, however, was how South America continued to produce so many great players. But I’m going to find out – and, if I can, steal a few of their secrets to pass on to the young children I teach back home in Camden and Islington. 

Within minutes of stepping off the plane I was left speechless. 

I was greeted by a sea of blue and white. Flags hanging out of hotels, houses and every car we passed, murals of Messi and Maradona painted on wall after wall. 

It didn’t take me long to find a local football club, El Barrio FC, one of a number of clubs scattered around the city where kids are encouraged to play among the adults. 

Cramped spaces under polluted motorways and between buildings are turned into makeshift football pitches. The pressure, passion, hunger of the players and their supporting parents who sat on the stairs nearby watching, is something I’ve never seen before. 

Local coach Christian Nunez explained what made the children so hungry: “They have so much to play for,” he said. 

Pointing at one of the giant paintings of Messi and Maradona, he added: “Look where you are sitting, this is what they aspire to be. We don’t need to fire up our players, they are fired from within. 

“Winning matters to us. If we don’t beat a team the players let them know, ‘we will be back to win’. Nothing is about losing or drawing.” 

With Argentina’s opening World Cup game looming, it feels like the city is about to explode  – producing the type of celebration that I’ve never seen before. 

I feel a long way from home.

When I was leaving London I heard one bookmaker offering odds of 100-1 for England to win the World Cup. I couldn’t begin to imagine the public outcry here if someone tried to offer Argentina the same odds! 

• Taff Rahman is a Tottenham Hotspur youth coach