{"id":1921,"date":"2020-11-26T08:32:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T09:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=1921"},"modified":"2020-11-27T10:24:04","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T10:24:04","slug":"how-maradona-pain-can-hurt-all-blacks-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=1921","title":{"rendered":"How Maradona pain can hurt All Blacks again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Cheika says a giant-killing Argentina will embrace the raw emotion of Diego Maradona's death, rather than bury it, as they attempt to repeat their heroics against the All Blacks on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Such was his stature, Maradona's death aged 60 on Wednesday (AEDT)<\/a> was felt keenly around the entire planet, and not just in the sporting realm.<\/p>\n

But naturally, Los Pumas were mourning more than most.<\/p>\n

Maradona was a staunch supporter of Argentina's rugby team and showcased his trademark passion from the stands during their run to third at the 2015 World Cup.<\/p>\n

He embraced sweaty players in the change room and juggled Gilbert rugby balls with his magical feet – unique and joyful moments that will never be forgotten by those wearing the famous blue and white.<\/p>\n

\"Diego<\/p>\n

"Very sad," Cheika, the former Wallabies coach turned Argentina assistant, told Wide World of Sports<\/em> radio on Thursday night.<\/a><\/p>\n

"He's not just a national icon but a global icon.<\/p>\n

"No-one will ever forget what he did at the 1986 World Cup \u2013 I'm a huge fan.<\/p>\n

"So to be amongst the lads, they gave him a homage this morning.<\/p>\n

"A lot of the boys weren't even born when he was playing but his reputation is so strong that they were all pretty emotional about it.<\/p>\n

"Having such a national icon pass away, but especially from the sporting field, they really felt it."<\/p>\n

\"Diego<\/p>\n

Argentina's government has announced there will be three days of national mourning to mark the loss of a 1.65m wizard and sporting and cultural giant.<\/p>\n

It will be fascinating to see what the Maradona effect is on Los Pumas.<\/p>\n

Argentina are level on six points with Australia and New Zealand in an unpredictable Tri Nations that is well and truly up for grabs.<\/p>\n

Cheika helped Argentina to its first ever win over the All Blacks a fortnight ago, a 25-15 stunner that left grown men in tears.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cheika and Argentina are a a nice fit: passionate, physical, heart on sleeve.<\/p>\n

And so there will be no edict to bottle things up as they prepare to do it all again against the All Blacks at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

"Emotion is a good thing \u2013 it's part of who we are as people," Cheika said.<\/p>\n

"You've just got to point it in the right direction.<\/p>\n

"I know there are a lot of theories about 'cool as cucumbers' but you've got to be who you are on the field.<\/p>\n

"The Argentinians have really come a long way around harnessing their attitude.<\/p>\n

"They have that emotion and that passion so it's just about starting to point it in the right direction and play with a bit more control.<\/p>\n

"They're very tight.<\/p>\n

"Every team meal, everyone's there together \u2013 albeit closer to midnight than 6 o'clock."<\/p>\n

Cheika added that Argentina's coronavirus nightmare year had only served to bond the team closer.<\/p>\n

\"Argentina<\/p>\n

"They celebrate together, suffer together," he said.<\/p>\n

"They've been in quarantine many times, between them they've amassed a few thousand COVID tests.<\/p>\n

"They've been through a fair bit.<\/p>\n

"New Zealand, of course, everyone will expect to win and bounce back.<\/p>\n

"But if we stick together you don't know what might happen."<\/p>\n

Cheika also indicated his interest to one day become an NRL head coach as he continues to test the waters of the rival code.<\/p>\n

\"Cheika<\/p>\n

Cheika will coach Lebanon at next year's league World Cup<\/a> after spending time with the Roosters in 2020.<\/p>\n

"If that came along one day it'd be an awesome privilege,'' Cheika said.<\/p>\n

"It's one of the great competitions in the world.<\/p>\n

"It's attritional, it's got everything.<\/p>\n

"But one step at a time for me.<\/p>\n

"This is a really great challenge and privilege for me, being of Lebanese heritage.<\/p>\n

"No thinking too far ahead."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Cheika says a giant-killing Argentina will embrace the raw emotion of Diego Maradona's death, rather than bury it, as they attempt to repeat their […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1923,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions\/1923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}