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For former Kaizer Chiefs darling and Bafana Bafana star Doctor Khumalo, playing Boca Juniors against Diego Maradona is a career milestone etched in his memory.
Khumalo said Thursday that Maradona, a 1986 World Cup winner in Argentina, who died Wednesday at age 60, was, like most footballers who grew up in the 1980s, a childhood hero.
The Bafana’s 1996 African Cup of Nations winner played a season at Ferro Carril Oeste in Argentina in 1995, before the deal was cut short due to problems related to the agent’s handling of the matter.
He remembers playing at the Alberto J Armando Stadium, Boca’s home, more popularly known as La Bombonera, one of the most intimidating clubhouses in world football.
Maradona played for Boca before joining Barcelona in 1982 ‚and again in the 1990s‚ and after his playing career he remained one of the big club’s most fanatical fans.
“I remember the game we played against Boca Juniors on a Sunday, and we were warming up and wondering what all the fuss was about,” recalled Khumalo.
“Because the stadium fills up around 11 in the morning. And ‚you must understand‚ that man is seen as a godfather of football ‚because football in Argentina is a kind of religion.
“In Argentina, even the smallest teams get crowds. But when we played against Boca ‚that’s when I felt‚ I’m in Argentina ‘.
“I think there were five‚ 10 minutes left for the warm-up and I heard the crowd yelling ‘Ma-ra-donna’. And I thought, ‘But this guy isn’t playing.’
“Only to find out that at the Boca Juniors stadium he has his own private suite. So he went in with his family.
“And when I looked up I saw [Claudio] Caniggia, Maradona, people like [Gabriel] Batistuta ‚and I was like‚ ‘Wow’.
“And then what he does is walk to the front of his private suite, where there is like a glass, and he leans east, south, and west.
“And when he bows the crowd [in that stand] acknowledge it by raising your hand and say something in Spanish, and the booth on the other side does the same.
“So it’s kind of a timed way of saying hello.
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