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Diego Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup is considered one of the greatest of all time
The nonconformist, the genius and the contradiction of football that is Diego Maradona celebrates his 60th birthday this Friday, a day that many of us doubt that this most complex man could ever see.
His has been a life that has reached the highest of peaks before descending into the deepest, darkest channels of despair, unable to cope with the adulation that accompanies stardom and the divine status bestowed upon it, but seemingly unable to survive without him. that.
To understand Diego well, you have to know the enigma that Argentina is; a country that needs the Diegos of this world to be the Messiahs who can take it to the level of greatness that it considers worthy of. And appreciate that this is a man who has lived through a history full of incredible paradoxes, endless errors and subsequent corrections, epic feats and anecdotes about declines and resurrections.
What is the real Maradona?
Diego, the boy from the Buenos Aires shanty town of Villa Fiorito, a prodigiously talented street urchin and man of the people?
Or perhaps Maradona the god, the myth, the great avenger and the embodiment of dreams, aspirations and the people’s last confirmation that Argentina is the best country in the world?
Maybe they both are.
In 1968 Francis Cornejo, the coach of a youth team affiliated with Argentinos Juniors whom he called Cebollitas (onions) had to travel to Villa Fiorito to verify the child’s age on his identification. “He’s small, there’s no way he’s eight,” was her shocked reaction as she watched him play a test.
Her mother, Dalma Salvadora Franco, confirmed her age by showing them Diego’s birth certificate from Hospital Evita. Francis had just performed the football equivalent of hitting oil. He had found a gem that could fit his side. Beginning in March 1969, the team did not tire of winning, recording an undefeated streak of 136 games.
In his youth, Maradona’s father, or as his friends Chitoro called him, piloted a ferry that moved cattle from town to town and then went to work in a chemical factory, where he barely earned enough to make ends meet with his big family in the shanty town where they lived.
Maradona inspired Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup
The success of his son, the fifth of eight siblings, meant that apart from becoming the “barbecue king”, he would never work again. By the time Diego was 15 years old, he had already become the head of the family and told his father to be by his side.
From a young age, Diego learned that leadership was a natural step forward, especially when there was a void to fill, regardless of age. “We went to play in Brazil,” recalls his teammate Rubén Favret who, like the rest of the squad, played friendlies during the week in Argentina and abroad to take advantage of Maradona’s pull.
“It was the era of color television and we all wanted to bring one back. But they had not paid us our bonuses. Diego, who was 18 years old, defended everyone and told Consoli [the president of Argentinos] that if they didn’t pay us, he wouldn’t play. “
A complicated and convoluted move towards Boca Juniors followed, mostly orchestrated by Maradona himself who revealed – incorrectly – to a friendly journalist that talks to sign him from Argentinos were at an advanced stage.
He kicked off the first major media-led transfer in history, for what was then a still pretty green 20-year-old. The deal turned into something surreal. What began as a direct purchase for the not inconsiderable sum of $ 10 million turned into a last minute loan with six Boca players, some cash and dodgy checks as collateral. Nothing was simple or straightforward when it came to Maradona.
Barcelona, where he went next, never saw the best of him. Of the two years he spent there, he was sick or injured for half that time. He suffered a horrific ankle injury after a terrible tackle by Athletic Club’s Andoni Goicoechea and then, when he became the main protagonist of a massive brawl played against the King of Spain in the Copa del Rey final that imposed a penalty of five months. From domestic competition, his fate was almost sealed.
In fact, he was close to bankruptcy at the time and a move, with new financial incentives, was a must. Furthermore, he never adapted to life in Catalonia, where he made himself feel like a stranger.
Napoli have won Serie A twice and lifted a European trophy (the UEFA Cup), all in Maradona’s time at the club.
Two months later he signed for Napoli, where he would enjoy his most successful and, ultimately, most punishing moments. The transfer to this fishbowl of a noisy, crowded and overheated existence, in which the Neapolitan criminal organization, the ever-present Camorra, was involved from the beginning, was the moment when Diego, Fiorito’s boy, became Maradona la brand.
Suddenly he was more of the character than the kid, he fell in love with the notion of being Maradona, licking the glory and adulation but always aware of how suffocating the whole situation was.
Cocaine became his new reality, a place of excitement higher than ever before; his drug of choice took him out of the demanding reality of constantly having to prove that you are the best player in the world.
And among all, the moment came that confirmed his status as much more than a great footballer. How would things have happened if Argentina had not managed to beat England in the “Hand of God” match at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the “revenge” four years after the defeat in the Malvinas War?
That party served to grant him immortality in the eyes of his country.
My latest project is a biography of Diego, until his retirement as a footballer. The rest is too personal and unpleasant. To write it I had to go back to where it all began, to Villa Fiorito. No one would accept me. It was my last day in Buenos Aires in early 2020, and I finally managed to persuade a very nervous taxi driver who picked me up on arrival to drive there.
Villa Fiorito is reputed to be a place affected by poverty and violence
We travel in nervous silence. The houses began to be little boxes, surrounded by uneven pavement with half-finished bars or full of abandoned plants. Trash cans were parked outside the tired little gardens and children kicked a ball barefoot.
The street narrowed and became a rough dirt road. I guessed that possibly not much had changed since Cornejo’s first trip with Diego to find out his age.
We turn right. A man was walking in the middle of the narrow road to avoid the mountains of debris that had piled up on the pavement. Without stopping and barely lowering the window, the taxi driver asked in an apologetic tone about Diego’s house. “There, 200 meters.” He stopped the car in front of Maradona’s first house, but kept the engine running.
All the plants were overgrown. It was the middle of the afternoon. Towards the back, you could make out a shabby bungalow that had a shadow on it. A man in a white vest quickly got up from his rocking chair. “What are you looking for?” “Nothing sir. My friend just wanted to see …” replied the taxi driver as he started the car and sped away. To the left I saw a dirt field with only one goal.
There is no sign on the way to that place that indicates the history of the area and its most famous inhabitant. And there is absolutely no intention of turning it into a tourist attraction. Nobody likes to show their miseries.
Actually, this was Diego’s house; Maradona, the man the boy grew up in, never lived there 60 years ago.
In fact, it is difficult to find what is left of that child these days. Now coach of the Gimansia de la Plata of the Argentine First Division, he has never been able to leave the big stage.
Maradona received a throne from the former Newell’s Old Boys club when he led his Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata team to a league match last year, a day before his 59th birthday.
His life after his retirement as a footballer is complex to say the least, it is public knowledge that he has at least 11 children, and his relationship with his ex-wife, Claudia Villafane, ended in court, as happened with his agent and close friend. friend Guillermo Coppola.
He has managed a few clubs (he is adored in Sinaloa, the Mexican team he led between 2018 and 2019) after failing to impress in charge of his nation between 2008 and 2010. But he has never come close to reaching the same heights as a manager who did as player.
He says he stopped using cocaine three years ago but the medication he takes leaves him in a state of sedation. That, his excessive weight for liking the high life, and the numerous operations for having played at a time when soccer artists were not respected or protected, explain his physical difficulties.
Maradona, who admits that he does not feel any remorse for his actions, always understood that life had to be lived fully. So now at age 60, with a wealth of experiences from someone much older, you can consider yourself lucky to be alive. And it will celebrate daily that it is.
Guillem Balague will write a regular column throughout the season and will also appear every Thursday on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast, when the focus will be on European football.
You can download the latest Football Daily podcast here.
Source: bbc.com
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