Diego Maradona in action for Argentina at the 1982 World Cup
It was 1978 when the World Cup first cast its spell over Michael O’Neill. A primary school boy then, he was soon swept along by all the colour and chaos, the tension and theatre of football’s grandest stage.
That was the summer Mario Kempes danced his way into folklore, Argentina’s talisman slicing through Dutch resistance, as the air turned thick with blue-and-white ticker tape which fell like celebratory confetti as the trophy was raised to the sky.