Argentina Football Formation

Lineup (3-5-1-1)

Sergio Goycochea · Juan Simón · Oscar Ruggeri · José Serrizuela · Néstor Lorenzo · José Basualdo · Roberto Sensini · Pedro Troglio · Jorge Burruchaga · Diego Maradona (c) · Gustavo Dezotti

Argentina "Runners-Up XI" (1990)

Diego Maradona's another World Cup adventure nearly made him a champion for the second time in a row. And Argentina nearly defended their crown successfully. The 1986 finalists West Germany and Argentina met again in the final, with this time the Germans coming out as winners.

It was an ill-tempered game, notable for the first two sendings off in a World Cup final. Pedro Monzón had the distinction of being the first player in 14 World Cup final games to be ejected, after being shown a straight red card for a hard leg tackle on Jürgen Klinsmann; FIFA had warned its officials to enforce the rules and Monzón had raised his foot during the tackle. Gustavo Dezotti, already booked earlier, received the second yellow card of the game when he hauled down Jürgen Kohler with what the New York Times described as a "neck tackle right out of professional wrestling". Argentina entered the game with four players suspended and ended it with nine men on the field, overall losing over half of their squad due to injury or bookings.

It was also the lowest-scoring final yet seen with Argentina becoming the first team not to score during a World Cup Final, having only one shot on goal, while Germany had 16 scoring chances. It has been suggested that Argentina's main strategy was to play for penalty kicks, having already advanced twice by this method. The only goal of the contest arrived in the 85th minute when Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal awarded a controversial penalty shot to West Germany, after a foul on Rudi Völler by Roberto Sensini, and Andreas Brehme converted the spot kick.

Diego Maradona was so furious with the red card on Monzón that he declined to shake hands with the FIFA president. Germany won as the better team, and this was the last time the World has seen Maradona at his usual best.

Coach/Manager : Carlos Bilardo

Reserves include : Fabián Cancelarich, Edgardo Bauza, Pedro Monzón, Gabriel Calderón and Abel Balbo.