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KUALA LUMPUR: Few know of soccer legend Diego Maradona’s deep relationship with his parents and former Cuban President Fidel Castro, whom he considered his “second father.”
Maradona’s parents threw him on the journey to the top of soccer and he is said to have cried uncontrollably when his father Don Diego died in 2015 and his mother Doña Tota in 2011.
When Castro, whom he met in 1987, died on November 25, 2016, a devastated Maradona flew to Cuba to cry.
The bright and troubled superstar took his last breath last week, coincidentally on the fourth anniversary of Castro’s death.
A former teammate of Maradona in the Argentina youth team, forward Luis Pablo Pozzuto, recalled his idol’s love for the family.
Luis, who is a coach at the football academy, Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer (KLYS), said that when he last met with “D10S” in 2015 for dinner at a hotel here, all he spoke was of “ family and football ”.
The 53-year-old former Kelantan and Penang player (2001-03) and coach of several local league teams said the three-hour conversation was a “Maradona moment, impossible to forget.”
He said the icon, who was here for the opening of his Boby & Maradona Gold Diamond store at NU Sentral, Brickfields, spoke passionately about his parents, his brother Raúl and his grandson Benjamin.
Luis said Don Diego supported his son during a turbulent career that saw a mix of magic on the field and tragic drug and alcohol abuse.
When Don Diego’s health deteriorated, Maradona ran to Argentina from Dubai to be with him, after regretting not seeing his mother in the days before his death.
Don Diego was a factory worker who once refused to let his son turn professional because there was not enough money in sports.
Maradona, the eldest of eight siblings, speaks in awe of his stay-at-home mother in his autobiography, recounting how he skipped meals just so his children could eat.
His death made national news in Argentina, and the country’s leading newspapers and television stations published obituaries.
Maradona’s brothers also became professional footballers, although none played internationally.
Raúl was briefly with Boca Juniors and the Spanish club Granada before ending his career in the United States. Hugo played in Spain with Rayo Vallecano and in Austria with Rapid Vienna before succeeding in Japan.
Luis said Maradona had asked him over dinner to get him a pair of Puma boots for his grandson Benjamin, the son of Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero.
He said Argentina’s No. 10 made young footballers dream and that the KLYS trainees kept a moment of silence for him at Kelab Aman yesterday.
Argentina’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Manuel Balaguer, recounted stories about the life and legacy of Maradona, also known as El Diego.
“He was not just an imposing icon in Argentina, he was made for the world.
“He lit up the world for soccer lovers and his magic will live on,” he said, adding that Maradona played at a time when the sport was not globalized, but the Argentine’s reputation was.
There was no internet and everyone could see the “golden boy” on television at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, how he effectively won the tournament for his country on his own.
On Marseille’s head coach Andre Villas-Boas’s suggestion to FIFA to withdraw number 10 from all competitions in honor of Maradona, Luis said:
“Maradona has said that he was against the withdrawal of the number 10 because he wanted it to be an inspiration to young people. Young players would dream of wearing the number after seeing Maradona starring in that Napoli and Argentina jersey.
“Maradona belongs to everyone; everyone wants to be like him. “
