[ad_1]
- Alejandro Millán Valencia
- BBC World News
Image source, fake images
Diego Armando Maradona in a mural in the Italian city.
“If I had been born seven months later, I would be called Diego and not Antonio.”
The story is by Antonio Moschella, an Italian journalist and passionate Napoli fan who grew up with the legend of Diego Armando Maradona on his back.
And that he cannot help but notice the changes that his city, Naples, experienced in the almost seven dizzying years in which the Argentine star lived there, in the fullness of his physical capacities as a footballer.
“It is the most intense history that Naples lived. And he was the king of this city that never had a king”, Moschella told BBC Mundo.
In the wake of the Argentine soccer star’s death this Wednesday in Buenos Aires, we spoke with Moschella about how Maradona’s arrival changed the southern Italian city.
Image source, fake images
Diego Maradona won two Italian league titles with Napoli.
What was Naples like before Maradona’s arrival in ’84?
“It was a city in which a kind of cultural evolution combined with an economic boom was beginning to be seen. Although in the south there was always an inequality with respect to the north, as there were significant signs of economic growth.
However, Naples was always seen a bit like the black sheep. Although it was a great capital, a great city, at that time it was only the capital “of the south”.
A kind of cultural awakening was taking place, especially in regional, folk music. And in the middle of that cultural revolution, Maradona arrived.
And in addition to transforming the club, he transformed the city. He was the promoter of a “social rebellion” against the north. A man who put the name of Naples in the world. And in the whole country.
fake images
The only king that Naples had in its history was Maradona “
The funny thing is that a foreigner had to do it.
But was Naples not yes before on the map? It was one of the most famous Italian cities.
Let’s start from there. Naples is not Italian. It is strictly legal, on paper, but not if we look at it from the human point of view. It is a Latin American city.
Naples was a bit of a bastard. It was never totally Italian. Nor was it entirely Phoenician. It is a bit Arabic. It has everything. So, as it is not a literally Italian city – it is not Florence, it is not Rome, it is not Milan – it is a city that has embodied rebellion.
That same of the pawn in front of his boss.
Since the unification of Italy, the south was very neglected. Wealth was carried north to make industry,
That inequality, in addition to turning it into a bastard city, turned it into a multi-colored city. And that multicolored did not like the north.
Image source, fake images
“Diego is the most famous Neapolitan”.
It was a city out of the boxes. Out of the northern order.
The change of the club was more than evident (the statistics show it), but how was the change of the city?
Naples remained a poor city. What happened is that winning, especially in those years of Maradona’s boom, there was a social revenge.
It is not that it became richer or a more orderly city, because it has always been “a quilombo”.
What happened is that she became prettier, prettier. Before she was pretty, but with a lot of dirty laundry. She was prettier without makeup.
Do you thinkthat Maradona restored dignity to Naples?
Yes, because after all, football is culture, football is social demand, it is the most basic and popular sport in the world, so of course it gave the city a lot of dignity.
He was a South American. He was a Neapolitan who had been born elsewhere. And we, Neapolitans, felt ourselves to be Latin American, that’s why I was telling you: the issue of different development, of that different way of living.
fake images
We have never had a story told so well, so beautifully. He created an epic. He was Cortázar. He was Gardel “
Because there is a lot of difference between a Neapolitan and someone from Milan.
So, of course, his arrival was important in the footballing, political and social fields.
Somehow, the Neapolitans finally felt important.
However, during those years, fans of the northern clubs continued to treat them with quite strong denominations, racist in many cases, Do you think that Maradona could have changed it or on the contrary, did it increase it?
That came from before. As we had lived through issues such as the cholera epidemic and suffered a strong earthquake, that served them (those of the north) as the basis for their offenses.
For example, I remember that they called us “terromotati”, which had to do with the fact that, as many people had lost their homes due to the earthquake, they lived in some kinds of shacks and they called them that. Very offensive.
But what I think Diego did was take that social rejection, which I don’t think was racial or ethnic, and turned it into a fighting flag to go out and win the cups he won. He made that rejection his own and became a representative of the people of Naples.
Image source, fake images
Maradona left Naples in 1991. But his legend still survives.
What is the general memory, not only of you, but of other Neapolitans like your parents or grandparents, who lived those years of Maradona?
That was another change. The stars that we followed, and I include my parents’ generation, were especially musicians. And Italian musicians. For example, at the time Maradona arrived there was a boom in folk music in the region.
And then, out of nowhere, we started following a footballer, who was also not Italian.
What Maradona did was revolutionize everything and put himself, being the brightest star, not above all, but in the same line. And that was very crazy.
In addition, we can say that that was surely the best time of modern Naples from a cultural point of view. Because at the end of the day, I repeat, for me football is culture and Maradona was the star that shone the most.
Image source, fake images
“Maradona is still very much alive in the memory of Naples.”
He was the only king of a city that had always been left and never had a king.
Although not so notable, there was also an urban change: the street altars to San Genarothey changed for Maradona’s …
What happened in Naples is that Maradona became like the new San Genaro, the great patron saint to whom all were entrusted for miracles and whose blood supposedly liquefies every September 19, which is like the greatest miracle that occurs in the city.
But there is a very famous movie of the time that exemplifies this that I tell you: there is a very believing character who apologizes to San Genaro because he no longer gives him the same devotion and explains that he loves him very much, but that when he sees Maradona doing a few feints, a dribble, it is him who is melting the blood in his veins.
Getty
He is a myth that goes beyond football and will last eternity ”
After all these years in which things can be seen more calmly, what is Maradona’s legacy in Naples?
I would tell you that you can do a census, see how many people are called Diego who is 35 years old and under and you will realize that it can be very many. He never stopped being the Neapolitan god, he never stopped being a rebel.
He is the most famous Neapolitan. Much more than others who made history.
Because beyond titles and goals, we have never had that impact, that strength. We have never had a story told so well, so beautifully. He created an epic. He was Cortázar. He was Gardel.
And his memory is alive in the streets. Every day there is a new mural. After almost 30 years of his departure, traces of Maradona can be seen in many things.
He is a myth that goes beyond football and that will last eternity.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.
