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COMMON PAIN: A supporter of Maradona’s Boca Juniors (right) and a River Plate supporter (left) hug each other in connection with people being able to pass the coffin with the dead footballer on Thursday. Photo: Debora Rey / AP
BUENOS AIRES / OSLO (VG) Diego Maradona’s death makes it possible for the fans of the Buenos Aires rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors to open their necks and burst into tears together.
More than a million people are expected to visit the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, to bid farewell to Argentina’s greatest idol on Thursday.
– This is very sad. Today we are all together. The soccer jersey you wear and the club you belong to does not matter now. We do this for Diego, says Rubén Navarro, who lives a few blocks from the house where Diego Maradona grew up, in the poor neighborhood of Villa Fiorito. More than 20 buses were installed to take neighborhood residents to the Casa Rosada, Navarro says.
– With his death the magic of soccer ends around the world, says Navarro, who himself wears the costume of the River Plate club, the rivals of Maradona’s Boca Juniors. Club membership is dropped after Maradona’s death.
Rivals
The superclassic between the two clubs in Buenos Aires is considered one of the most intense and hateful local settlements in the world. Both clubs have their origin in La Boca, a working-class neighborhood in the port area of the Argentine capital.
Diego Maradona’s last “serious” soccer game was just a Superclásico. He played for Boca Juniors, who beat River Plate 2-1 on October 25, 1997.
LAST GAME: The match between Boca Juniors and River Plate was Maradona’s last “serious” soccer game. Here he greeted the fans after the match on October 25, 1997. Photo: ENRIQUE MARCARIAN
At times, the football classic has turned violent, either among the fans or with the police. In 1968 it ended very badly, when 71 people lost their lives in a clash at the River Plates field, El Monumental, after a match that ended 0-0.
Thousands and thousands of people lined up to pay their respects to Maradona last Thursday, wearing soccer uniforms and face masks, but close together, risking corona infection.
Fans of the San Lorenzo club have also attended. Cintia Vera and Pablo Poclava say it was sad to leave for Maradona’s coffin.
World history created
– I represent my father, who loved Diego and is hospitalized and cannot come. This is his soccer jersey, says Cintia Vera, who assures that she scored Maradona’s goal during the 1986 World Cup from inside her mother’s womb.
– He was a God, he created the history of the world. There is no one else who can unite Argentines like him.
Around 1 p.m. local time, the mood in the queue to enter the palace increases significantly. The queue stretches for 20 blocks. “Diego, Diego in my life, you are the joy of my heart,” sang many hundreds of attendees. Those who leave the Casa Rosada, on the other hand, are much more marked, many cry, others hug.
– Maradona brought us all together with his passion. Only he managed to reunite us like this, now we are a voice of mourning together. We are all part of Diego, says Matías Quintana.
Messi is not the same
– Lionel Messi is also good, but he does not have the same attitude that unites us, as Diego had. I am very sad. My heart is split in two, says Quintana.
Héctor Llanan traveled 500 kilometers this morning from the city of Entre Ríos. He wears the green Atlético Sarmiento home shirt, but says he agrees more with Boca Juniors if he has to choose between the clubs in the capital.
– I’m 60 years old. I have lived everything that has happened to Diego. That fans of different clubs get together here is how it should be. Diego was a player who represented all the clubs. He was so charismatic, says Llanan.
Beto Villian, Andrea Reano and Lili Victorio also wear green soccer jerseys. They are supporters of the Nueva Chicago club, which is located in the Mataderos district of Buenos Aires.
Som Avoid
– Maradona represented us all in football. It brought us together, as Evita, Perón and Néstor did, says Andrea Reano.
Josefine Castro Rovera wears the shirt of the Argentine national team and has taken his dog Rubén by the arm to say goodbye to the hero.
– Diego was the best we had in Argentina. Although no one wants to identify with his shady sides, he gave us a lot of light and joy, he says, I am incredibly grateful for all the joy he has brought us. I had to come here today to thank you.
Luva Satti has traveled four hours by car to meet in the capital at 10. After a few hours in line, she is allowed into the palace.
– Here are the fans of the Boca, River, Independiente and Racing clubs. It is as expected, this is Diego we are talking about. It’s never nice to be in those places. I do not know what to say. Although it is sad, Argentine soccer gives us a lot of joy, he says.
Not worried
Satti is not worried about heart disease.
– We have been in quarantine for six months. That’s the last thing I think about right now.
Pensioner Jorge William also does not think about the danger of virus infection.
“I am not worried about the coronavirus, I am a man of faith,” says William, who has dressed in the colors of the Argentine flag from head to toe.
– Maradona is the biggest we have had in Argentina. He defended the Argentine people. I hope that one day a president will do the same. But it was God who gave us the number 10.
