Argentine football is in mourning. Roberto Cejas, the man who carried Diego Armando Maradona on his shoulders after the Argentina National Team's triumph in the 1986 Mexico World Cup, passed away this Monday at the age of 68 after battling an illness.
Originally from Santa Fe, Cejas was immortalized in one of the most memorable images in sports history: that victory lap at the Azteca Stadium, with Maradona holding the World Cup on his shoulders.
The man from Santa Fe traveled to Mexico specifically for the final against Germany: "I only went for the final. I arrived in Mexico on Saturday afternoon and the match was on Sunday at noon. I said 'if we beat Belgium, I'm going to see the final'," he recalled in an interview.
Without a ticket and with a mix of luck and cleverness, he managed to enter the stadium with a group of compatriots: "The stadium had a moat with an iron structure. We went to the corner area, where there were two police officers. We faked them out and jumped onto the field," he recounted with laughter. "Without thinking, Diego stopped, looked at me, and I lifted him up. I carried him at a trot. He was guiding me where to go. I didn't realize what was happening until much later," he added.
