RAMON DIAZ was a left footed striker who came through the youth ranks with Diego Maradona.
Diaz was top scorer, Maradona was chosen as best player when Argentina won the first World Under-20 Cup in 1979.
Afterwards they fell out, and the international career of Diaz did not extend beyond the 1982 World Cup, but he was a consistent goal scorer in Italy and France during the 80s, before later embarking on a successful coaching career.
He won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League, with his beloved River Plate in 1996, and has taken charge of other Argentine giants such as San Lorenzo and Independiente.
There are two unusual moments in his coaching CV. The first is a spell as manager of Oxford United in 2004/5. The second has just happened – he was sacked by Brazilian club Botafogo before he had even started work.
Now 61, Diaz was hired by the Rio de Janeiro club in November. Now 61, he had to undergo a surgery before he could take charge. So he sent his assistant, his son Emiliano, and his back up staff to Rio to get the ball rolling until he was free to join them.
The original hope was that he would be given the all clear in the last week of November.
But that was then put back to December 7 – and Botafogo decided that they were not prepared to wait.
Under Emiliano Diaz Botafogo had played three matches, and lost them all. He was sent on his way, and his father Ramon had lost a job that he had not even started performing.
There are obvious reasons for the Botafogo administration to push the panic button. They are one of the famous names of the Brazilian game, supplying an extraordinary array of talent to the national team.
Brazil’s three World Cup winning sides between 1958 and 70 were built on a combination of players from Pele’s Santos and the Botafogo of Garrincha, Zagallo, Nilton Santos, Didi, Amarildo and Jairzinho.
But the club’s support base is passionate but relatively small – especially compared to local giants Flamengo or even Vasco da Gama.
Botafogo are in deep financial trouble – there have been hopes, so far unfounded, that the club might be saved by being turned into a business.
And, inevitably, the financial problems make their way through to the field, where in recent times Botafogo teams have tended to be limited and workmanlike rather than inspired.
They have been relegated to the second division twice this century, and are in grave danger of going down once more. Well over half way through the season, Botafogo are second from bottom.
Two coaches had quickly come and gone when Ramon Diaz was appointed. Political infighting is common in Brazilian clubs, and it would seem likely that the decision to go with Diaz did not meet with universal approval.
The slight delay in his arrival, then, became the justification for those who did want a foreign coach to push for dismissal.
But there is a delicious irony in the story. Ramon Diaz was substituted by the return of Eduardo Barroca for his second spell in charge of the club.
Barroca then went down with coronavirus, and will be in isolation until Thursday, by which time Ramon Diaz would already have been at work.
The club that could not wait is being forced to do just that.
