As the teams lined up for the national anthems before the 1979 friendly between Scotland and Argentina, the eyes of the Hampden fans were on familiar faces from the TV coverage of the South Americans’ World Cup-winning squad of the previous year. Few of the supporters recognised or even knew the name of the small, chunky teenager who nearly three decades on will manage Argentina for the first time against Scotland on Wednesday.

By the end of the game the 61,918 spectators had been dazzled by the sunshine of that June afternoon and almost blinded by the brilliance of 18-year-old Diego Armando Maradona, who scored the first of his 34 international goals on the famous old Glasgow ground. It was one of the high-lights of a career that dripped with honours - he shared Fifa’s Player of the Century award with Pele - and was also equally shrouded in controversy, Maradona earning a 15-month suspension after failing a doping test for cocaine abuse in 1991 and then being sent home from the 1994 World Cup for taking the banned drug ephedrine.

Maradona will be back at Hampden on Wednesday, this time making his debut as the surprise coach of his national side, and the successors of the Tartan Army are likely to give him as great an ovation as he received 29 years ago. Sadly, because of a TV strike, no film exists of the 1979 game but in the personal memory bank of the participants it could have been tapped into their computers yesterday. Paul Hegarty was one of the perspiring Scottish players who tried to pin down the little Argentinian that sun-splashed afternoon. The one-time Dundee United central defender, the only home Scot in the side beaten the previous week by England at Wembley, recalls: “He was small but so powerful. You just couldn’t get him off the ball, in fact it was hard to get any of them to part with the ball. I remember at one stage they held on to it for almost a minute, and that’s a long time in football.

“We had hardly heard of him before the game but we certainly knew who he was by the final whistle.

“They had a good number of players from the World Cup-winning side but he was the one who really stood out, although he was only 18. It was an incredible performance because Hampden on an international day can be an intimidating ground for young players, but he had sheer quality. Really their whole team were streets ahead of us.”

Maradona’s virtuoso display came a year too late. One of the criticisms of the 1978 World Cup, when Argentina lifted the trophy on their home turf, was a perceived lack of individual stars in the tournament, yet the teenager, first capped by his country at only 16, was denied the chance to play in his own backyard. He was in the squad of 40 provisionally named for the competition but failed to make the final choice of 22. However, he more than made up for it, appearing in four successive World Cups between 1982 and 1994.

Hampden was the fourth game of the Argentinians’ European tour. Leopoldo Luque scored in each half to put the South Americans 2-0 up and then, on 70 minutes, Maradona struck. Scotland substitute Frank Gray gave the ball away to Jose Daniel Valencia, whose pass cut through the dark blue defence and the teenager, like a football matador, toyed with George Wood, the last man he had to beat, before coolly slotting the ball home.

There was to be a double consolation for Arthur Graham. The Leeds United winger scored Scotland’s goal in their 3-1 defeat six minutes from time and also collected Maradona’s jersey at the final whistle. The shirt was sold at an auction of sports memorabilia in London five years ago for £9,000.

One man who wasn’t surprised that Maradona shone was Jock Stein. The Scotland manager went on a spying trip to Dublin the week before the Hampden encounter to watch Argentina in their 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland. The wily Stein, always cautious in his praise of young players, couldn’t contain his excitement after watching Maradona come off the bench as a substitute, saying: “When he came on against the Irish the whole game changed, everything clicked into place, everything became exciting.

“He is superb attacking defences and has amazing skill. There are lots of talented youngsters you look at and say to yourself, they will be great players in the future. It’s different with Maradona, he is already a great player. It’s only natural that people will compare him to Pele, but that’s unfair. Pele played in three World Cups to reach his peak; give this lad another five years. He’s only 5ft 5in but is 12ft tall on talent. That size factor, plus his strength, skill and speed, makes him a nightmare for big defenders.” Stein, always attempting to boost attendances, told the Scottish fans: “This may be your only chance to see him in real life. You shouldn’t miss a treat.”

The performance and result against Stein’s side even brought a smile to Argentina’s stern-faced manager, Cesar Luis Menotti. Puffing as always on his cigarette, he thanked the Scottish supporters for the ovation they gave his team, saying: “These fans were magnificent. It was the best reception we have received outside our own country.”

As the debate raged as to whether Maradona was as good as Pele, Scotland striker Denis Law had the last word. The goal king of Manchester United, by then retired as a Scotland international, said simply: “He is not the new Pele, he is the first Maradona.”

George Burley, who played against Maradona in 1979, will be the first to test him as a coach. Burley said: “It sticks in my memory as one of the best experiences of my career. I can still picture Maradona running quicker with the ball at his feet than he did without it. His ability to wriggle past people was fantastic.”

The Scotland manager had a joke at the expense of his assistant, former England international Terry Butcher, who played against Maradona when he scored the Hand of God goal in the World Cup quarter-final in 1986 as the South Americans won 2-1, thanks to a Diego double. “When Terry gets to the bench on Wednesday, it’s the nearest he will have got to Maradona,” said Burley.

Speed is the abiding memory of Alan Hansen, too. The defender, making his second appearance for Scotland, said: “Maradona was so quick over five or six yards and had a left foot that, even at 18, already deserved to be described as the wand of a genius.”