History Of The 1985 U-16 FIFA World Cup: Nigeria Champions In China And The Failure Of Maradona's Sister

JAKARTA - China has the honor of hosting the inaugural edition of the U-16 World Cup which was held in 1985. Nigeria emerged as champions. Meanwhile, Hugo Maradona, who is none other than Diego Maradona's younger brother, failed to bring Argentina to make achievements because he had been eliminated in the group stage.

FIFA first held the U-16 World Cup in 1985 which later became the forerunner of the U-17 World Cup.

At that time, FIFA made it a championship for players under 16 years old. The new age limit was raised to 17 as it is today starting at the 1991 U-17 World Cup.

The first edition of the World Cup was held in four cities in China, Peking (now Beijing), Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian. The championship was attended by 16 teams divided into four groups with a total match of 32.

World elite teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany (Western) compete with the United States, Mexico and teams less familiar with world football such as Congo and Guinea with Nigeria who are representatives of Africa.

Argentina, who fielded Hugo Maradona, Diego Maradona's younger brother, became the seed. However, Maradona, this one, failed completely.

Argentina only lasted until the group stage was ranked third behind Australia and West Germany.

Nigeria, which finally emerged as champions. Being in Group C with Italy, they managed to rank second. Italy itself follows in Argentina's footsteps.

Knocked out in the group stage because he was in third position. Meanwhile, the group winner was won by Saudi Arabia.

Nigeri started the fight by beating Italy 1-0 and then drew 0-0 against Saudi Arabia. In the last match, the junior The Super Eagles beat Costa Rica 3-0.

Entering the knockout phase, Nigeria eliminated Hungary 3-1 to meet fellow African representatives, Guinea, who surprisingly qualified for the semifinals.

Guinea is Nigeria's tough opponent. After a 1-1 draw, Jonathan Akpoborie et al finally won 4-2 on penalties.

In the final, they convincingly beat West Germany 2-0. Akpoborie who later became one of the top footballers contributed one goal in the final match.

The inaugural edition of the World Cup should be the stage for Hugo Maradona. But his younger brother seems to bear the burden of Maradona's name, who in 1985 had become the most expensive player in the world twice while playing at Barcelona and Napoli.

The younger brother drowned and only briefly played in Europe. On the other hand, midfielder Fernando Redondo has skyrocketed and has become a star at Real Madrid.

Apart from Redondo, the inaugural edition of the World Cup gave birth to a line of stars like Marcel Witeczek who then played at Bayern Munich when he entered senior level.

Likewise, the poor Akpoborie in the German Bundesliga with Hansa Rostock, VfB Stuttgart to VfL Wolfsburg.

Dri Brasil instead brought up a defender, Andre Cruz who then skyrocketed with Napoli, AC Milan, Torino and Sporting.

Maurizio Ganz, an Italian striker, was unlucky. He had flown with Milan and Inter Milan. However, Ganz never had the opportunity to play in the Italian national team when he entered the senior level.