The year is 2009. Argentina, under the direction of Diego Maradona, is on the verge of missing the 2010 World Cup after back-to-back-to-back defeats to Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay. The loss to Brazil had been particularly horrifying — a 3-1 humbling in Rosario that clinched the Seleção’s place in South Africa and left midfield warrior Javier Mascherano disconsolate in the dressing room.
Argentina’s hopes came down to the final two qualifiers, a pair of October matches against Peru and Uruguay. However, a friendly was scheduled against Ghana at the beginning of the month with 19 domestic-based players called up.
At this time, Maradona and national team director Carlos Bilardo — who’d managed Maradona and La Albiceleste’s 1986 World Cup-winning side — were at each other’s throats over the squad’s direction. With questions being asked of Maradona’s authority, El Pibe de Oro lashed out while making a couple selections that were certainly his own.
“Nobody will tell me which players not to choose, I listen to everyone but the one who has the final say is me,” Maradona said. “Those who will be here, will be here, I won’t give anymore details. The last thing I will allow is someone to tell me what not to do, I didn’t accept it when I was 15 years old and I definitely won’t accept it now that I’m 48.”
Amongst the surprises where Ariel “El Burrito” Ortega — who had received the last of his 86 caps in 2003 — and Luis Miguel Rodríguez (better known as Pulga Rodríguez), who’d just fired Atlético Tucumán to the Primera División by scoring 20 goals in the second division.
“I called him because I see a mischievousness very similar to my own,” Maradona explained. At 5-6, Pulga does look and play like some sort of Maradona-Messi love child.
Pulga Rodriguez training under the watchful eye of Maradona in 2009.
Wearing the No. 16, Pulga would come on as a second half substitute and log 33 minutes in Argentina’s 2-0 win. The match would serve its purpose as a springboard to qualifying for the World Cup — most notably for Martín Palermo, who scored both the goals against Ghana before scoring the game-winner in extra time against Peru.
For Pulga, that cap at the age of 24 still represents his only appearance for the national team. However, he’s something of a cult icon in Argentina with over 300 appearances for Atlético Tucumán and over 100 goals.
A Google search for Pulga Rodriguez will reveal a bounty of transfer gossip articles linking him with a Maradona reunion — first at Dorados in Mexico's Ascenso MX and then with Gimnasia in the Primera División.
Neither of those moves ever came to fruition and the 35-year-old now plays with Colón in the Primera, where he recently helped his side advance to the 2019 Copa Sudamericana Final while finishing joint-second in the tournament with four goals.
Despite his age, Pulga has shined since club football returned to Argentina with the Copa de la Liga Profesional. Colón has started with two wins and a draw while Pulga has scored in both the victories. On Monday, he hit a trivela that would make Ricardo Quaresma weep.
#LPFxTNTsports | ¡DEMENCIAL! El Pulga Rodríguez se mandó un golazo de antología para ampliar el marcador en Santa Fe. ¿El gol de la #CopaLigaProfesional?
Colón Central Córdoba pic.twitter.com/F8Ho5Svd0I— TNT Sports LA (en ) (@TNTSportsLA) November 17, 2020
¡ESTÁS COMPLETAMENTE LOCO! ‼‼‼‼‼‼
El Pulga Rodríguez metió este TREMENDO golazo en la victoria de Colón por 2-0 ante Central Córdoba pic.twitter.com/DFBaNJrbnx— TNT Sports LA (en ) (@TNTSportsLA) November 17, 2020
Lionel Scaloni seems a far more measured man than Maradona, but we wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Pulga in the Albiceleste shirt just one last time.
