A lokacin manyan taron manema labarai na FIFA World Cup 2026, daraktan tawagar Argentina Lionel Scaloni ya tsaya bayan taronsa na kafin wasan don ɗaukar hoto tare da ɗan jarida ɗaya — mai watsa labarai mai shekara 91 wanda ya kasance yana rufe gasar tun kafin haifuwar mafi yawan 'yan wasansa.
Wannan ɗan jarida shi ne Enrique Macaya Marquez, wanda ake kiransa kawai da Macaya, kuma labarin sa ba shi da kamancewa a duniyar kafofin watsa labarai na wasanni. A tsawon aikinsa na kusan ƙarni ɗaya, ya rufe FIFA World Cup 18 a jere — rikodin da ba shi da makamanci a aikin jarida na ƙwallon ƙafa.
Tafiya da ta fara da Pelé
Macaya yana da shekara 24 lokacin da ya fara tafiya zuwa Sweden don rufe FIFA World Cup ta 1958. Ɗaya daga cikin aikinsa na farko shi ne kallon Brazil ta Pelé tana fafatawa da Austria — amma babbar tunawarsa daga wannan gasar ta kasance ciwo ga ƙasarsa.
Argentina ta sha kashi mai tsanani a hannun Czechoslovakia da sakamakon 6-1, sakamako da bai taba barsa ba. "Ya kasance a cikin ƙwaƙwalwata a matsayin wulakanci mai tsanani ga ƙungiyar ƙasa ta Argentina," in ji shi. "Ba mu san komai game da Czechoslovakia. Ba mu da bayanai, ba mu da ƙididdigewa, kuma sun ba mu mamaki."
Tun daga wannan lokaci, Macaya ya ga komai: Pelé, Diego Maradona, da Lionel Messi. Ya ga talabijin ya zama na dijital, ƙididdigewa ya zama na nan take, kuma FIFA World Cup ta zama biki na duniya. Duk da haka, abu ɗaya ya kasance iri ɗaya a gare shi: ƙin yanke hukunci cikin gaggawa.
Hangen nesa mai hankali game da Scaloni da Messi
Wannan falsafar ta tsara ra'ayinsa lokacin da aka nada Scaloni ba tsammani a matsayin daraktan tawagar Argentina a 2018. "Ban da babbar fata," in ji Macaya, mai sharhi a DSPORTS Radio. "Ban san shi ba."
Scaloni tun daga wannan lokaci ya jagoranci Argentina zuwa Copa America, Finalissima, da cin FIFA World Cup — ya sauya abin da da yawa ke gani a matsayin ɗaya daga cikin mafi girman haɗari a duniyar ƙwallon ƙafa zuwa ɗaya daga cikin manyan labaran nasara. Ga Macaya, wannan hanyar ta tabbatar da imanin da ya ƙarfafa tsawon shekaru da yawa.
"Ba za ka iya yanke hukunci ba sai da fahimtar da ta fi zurfi kuma cikakkiya game da mutumin da ake hukunta shi," in ji shi.
Argentina ta sake kaiwa ga zagaye na karshe hudu na FIFA World Cup 2026 kuma tana shirye don fuskantar tsohon abokin adawarta England. Macaya bai yi shakka a kan ikon ƙasarsa ba. "Tabbas suna iya," in ji shi. "Idan muna magana game da abin da zai yiwu, game da makomar, ina gaskata cewa Argentina na iya cin nasara."
Kuma ɗan wasan Argentina da ya fi so? "A bayyane, shi ne Messi," ya amsa ba tare da jinkiri ba. Amma lokacin da tambayar da ba za a guje wa ba ta biyo baya — wanene mafi kyau a duk tarihi? — tabbacin ya ɓace. "Wannan tambayar tana cancanta murmushi," in ji shi. "Babu yadda za a auna 'yan wasa a duk tarihi."
Maradona da Messi: kwatancen da ba zai yiwu ba
Macaya ya kuma ƙi yanke hukunci tsakanin Messi da Diego Maradona. "Yana da wuya sosai a yi kwatancen sanyi," ya bayyana. "Abokan adawa sun kasance daban-daban. Buƙatun sun kasance daban-daban. Goyon bayan abokan wasansu ya kasance daban-daban. Kowannensu yana da rayuwarsa da tarihinsa."
Wannan hankali iri ɗaya ya shafi lokacin da yake kwatanta Brazil ta Pelé ta 1970 da Argentina ta Maradona ta 1986. "Babu yadda za a kwatanta su," in ji shi. "Salon wasa ya bambanta sosai."
Ritaya, koyaushe ana jinkirta ta
Bayan kusan shekara 70 yana rufe babban taron wasanni na duniya, Macaya ya yarda cewa ritaya tana gabatowa — yana kiyaye ɗanɗanonsa na ban dariya na yau da kullun. "Zan yi ritaya a wani lokaci," in ji shi yana dariya. "Ina yin ritaya yanzu... don haka zan hana waya kuma in bar ta ga wani lokaci."
Ga wanda ya yi rayuwarsa yana rubuta tarihin ƙwallon ƙafa, wannan zai zama ƙarshe mai kyau ga aiki mai ban mamaki — ko da yake, gaskiya ga ɗabi'arsa, ban kwana na Macaya Marquez bai taɓa zama na ƙarshe ba.
