The day that comedian Teo González “saved” the 1986 World Cup in Mexico

Undoubtedly, one of the most important sporting events that Mexico has hosted was the 1986 World Cup, which left unforgettable anecdotes, among which are two goals by Diego Armando Maradona against England: the “hand of God” and the “goal of the century”, framed by that race from half court.

However, not all the great stories were told on the pitch, and what better, because although it was the best presentation of the national team in this type of competition, it could not make it past the quarterfinals.

One of many starred comedian Teo González, who was 25 years old at the time and was serving as the third goalkeeper of Club León. He never made his debut, but managed to sit on the bench waiting for his chance.

During a moment of desperation, as new goalkeepers arrived who were placed on top of him despite his time and experience with the team, he asked the manager for clarity about his chances of playing.

The 1986 World Cup came and they explained to Teo that he would stay for another year, but the contract would have to be signed after the international competition. For this reason, the board asked him to stay at the facilities of Club León to help in whatever was necessary during the months of the world cup fair, as he detailed in an interview for the YouTube channel RadioShow.

Group C arrived in the city of León, Guanajuato, made up of France, Hungary, Canada and the Soviet Union. For the preparations, FIFA sent the official nets that would be placed in the goals of the Nou Camp stadium in Los Panzas Verdes.

That competition was the first to use square nets, a situation that implied the disappearance of the arch that the old nets had behind, so that complicated the placement due to the new tensioners.

Teo began to take them out of their boxes to start putting them in, but he realized that FIFA had not sent the tensioners, so it was impossible to start the matches. The referee of the first match, starring Canada and France, supervised the court, observed that it was in perfect condition, but warned by the nets that they were not well placed.

“The court is perfect, everything is very good, but the nets cannot be like this,” said the referee. The comedian today informed him that the tensors had not arrived, to which the referee said “if there are no networks, there is no match”.

Immediately, the headquarters were altered, but Teo González had a very easy solution. He ran to a supermarket and bought plastic clotheslines, which he tied to the nets, stretched them to the stands and placed them so that they would remain in tension, as requested by protocol.

Thanks to this feat of today's comedian, the referee gave the go-ahead to play the three corresponding matches of the group and saved that competition. At the end of the matches, only two teams passed, the Soviet Union and France, both with five points.

When the world championship ended, Teo returned to Club León's preseason with the promise of the board of directors to stay for another year, but the new coach of that time informed him that he was no longer in his plans, so, after three years, he thanked him.

Betrayed, as the comedian himself felt, he could not look for equipment during the period, as he knew he would continue with the Green Bellies. He continued to play amateur football, but a heart attack recently took him away from the courts, although his doctor promised to release him to continue.

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