Expresso Grandstand | I played four times against Maradona. And this is the story I have to tell you (by Carlos Xavier)

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The former Portuguese midfielder remembers brilliant moments of Diego, who made the impossible possible, because he was an incomparable genius, poorly protected and ill advised. And he also remembers the great heart of the Argentine who stopped today

I played four times against Maradona. Two at Sporting and then when I was at Real Sociedad. In the first game, in Alvalade, I was substituted and minutes later he entered. Said he only came in when I left [risos]. So I had to go. I ended up not being on the field with him, but he was in the same game, it was part of the same game sheet, so … it’s nice to have been there to see him live. I don’t play in Naples, I stay on the bench but I could see all his genius and movement playing. And it was already a moment when he was ending his career in Naples. Then he goes to Seville. Went to the party.

I remember that UEFA knockout with Sporting was already at a stage where he was about to leave Napoli. In Alvalade he stayed on the bench, because he was a bit chubby, but the whole stadium was shouting his name and he had to go in, obviously. Still, he had a touch of the ball … everything he did with the ball was great, it was admirable. In the second game, in San Paolo, the atmosphere was tremendous. He was a god to them. It was and will continue to be. So much so that he even has a church to his name, Maradona became a religion.

There is a funny episode when I was in Spain. We went to play in Seville and we almost crossed paths on the pitch, he was always very kind, he laughed at everyone, said ‘hello’, ‘good afternoon’ to everyone. And I took advantage of it and said: ‘Diego, I already have one of your Naples shirts but I would like to have another.’ And he said: ‘Yes sir, no problem, in the end we changed.’ I was lucky, I was the first to ask. But during the game, Bilardo, the Argentine coach of Sevilla, took it out and even left the field, calling it everything possible and imaginary. And I thought, ‘The sweater was there. The game was over and he came out with the shirt in his hand to give it to me. I never forgot that detail about him. He had a trembling heart.

The shirt I have from Naples has a curious history. In Alvalade he played with number 16, because he was not a starter and the starting players wore from 1 to 11 and there were no names on the shirts. And I, the monkey, changed my shirt to number 10, which that day was Massimo Mauro. Anyway, number 10 I have it!

He could have been a genius, but he had this fantastic human side. Then, in beach soccer, I played against the Argentine team, who had several of their teammates and they all said that no one else had a heart like theirs. For me, he was my idol. He was number 1. He had two idols: Jordão in Portugal and there was Maradona. At that time there was no one better than him, it was impossible. He was a genius, he did everything well and everything he did seemed easy. And it was not easy.

I usually say that even Maradona’s enemies liked it. It is a pity that he was not born at this time. Today, the players are much more protected, protected and advised ”.