MARADONA and a tale of two cities
Diego will always be a Messiah to Napoli, but tonight’s hosts Barcelona see him as little more than a footnote
THE pilgrims still doggedly make their way up a steep incline, despite rain pouring down the hill from the Spanish Quarter.
They are guided by occasional signs that point to the Maradona Murals. These lie in the heart of an area of Naples that suggests poverty but unmistakably holds the promise of majesty.
It comes suddenly. There is a break in the line of buildings, there is light as the narrow way opens ever so slightly — and there is El D10S in every shape and form. The name is a play on God and No10. Believers protest that they are one and the same. It is the ramshackle cathedral to Diego Armando Maradona.
Maradona made history wearing the No10 shirt in Naples. He is revered. Tonight, Napoli play Barcelona, another of the great man’s clubs, in the Champions League.
In the Catalan city, Maradona is but a footnote, overshadowed by his compatriot Leo Messi, the creator of the modern Barca Johan Cruyff, and the maverick’s maverick, Ronaldinho.
The disparity in the acclaim is stark. In the Spanish Quarter, tourists jostle for the best photo opportunity under the major mural, next to the bust, alongside the flags or in front of the shirts from various clubs left in homage. It is all reminiscent of an area in Buenos Aires, La Paternal, where Maradona took his first steps in senior football with Argentinos Juniors. There, in sun-lined streets, I once walked, unable to find a wall not dedicated to El Pibe D’Oro, the golden urchin.
This adulation is repeated here in an Italian city, far from Maradona’s upbringing in a shanty town on the edges of Buenos Aires. The why and how of this sustained and enduring outbreak of worship is explained. The disinterest in Barcelona holds no mystery, either.
The story of Maradona in Italy and Spain speaks of culture, glory, pain, addiction and, alternately, devotion and disdain.
The Napoli of Maradona demands to be examined first. As one treks, soaked but oddly warmed, from the Maradona shrine, there is a route that takes you through the old town and towards the centre. It is impossible to walk a few yards without the presence of the Argentine. Shops display cardboard cut-outs of him, murals are painted in side streets and there is an industry of Maradona tat that raises the soul of aficionados like me.
The most dramatic images are of Maradona as a saint. He wears a robe or stares out from under a halo. One can buy a variety of such cards that sit alongside portraits of Padre Pio, the saint who spent his monastic life in the south of Italy. No one remarks on the incongruity of this. Padre and Pibe seem perfect partners.
The beatification of Maradona has a simple creation story. Napoli were formed in 1926. The club had never won a Scudetto — the league title — until Maradona arrived in 1984. They won two while he was there, adding a Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana and a UEFA Cup. There was then a title drought until last season, when Napoli won another Scudetto.
‘We always remember that it could not be three without Maradona,’ says a young man.
This gratitude to Maradona not only survives his death in 2020 but is enhanced by it. There is glory in the life of an extraordinarily accomplished footballer. But there was also tragedy. Napoli and their fans understand both.
The figure of Maradona is almost definitively Neapolitan, too. There is an irresistible thought that he would not have been out of place revving down the Via dei Tribunali on a Vespa. Instead, this street, one of the most lively in the city, is festooned with his image alongside the heroes of last season’s campaign. Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are ubiquitous. In many ways, though, they merely sit at the right hand and left hand of Maradona.
‘He fitted the city,’ a businessman tells me. ‘He was the underdog. This is the underdog city. He divided the city when Argentina played Italy in the World Cup but that was his strength.’
This match in Naples in 1990 was preceded by Maradona’s call to arms to Neapolitans to support Argentina. He says of matchday: ‘The Neapolitans are asked to be Italian for just one night, the other 364 days they get called terroni (an insulting name for southerners).’
Many say Naples remained loyal to Italy. Others mutter that was not the case. Only Maradona had the power — and impertinence — to promote this dissent. Incidentally, Argentina, with Maradona scoring in the penalty shoot-out, defeated Italy, although they lost to Germany in the final.
Maradona’s presence was thus felt on and off the park. He brought titles but he also stirred that pride in the city and spoke of how it could be treated with contempt by ‘the North’, seen as the source of power in Italy. In this, Maradona was being consistent. Wherever he went, he railed against those who made decisions, whether at FIFA, in boardrooms, or in parliaments.
This anti-establishment stance was approved in Naples, while his football ability brought the fans a joy that had never been experienced.
In contrast, Barcelona remains untouched by Maradona worship. The Nou Camp, which is being pulled down to be rebuilt, had nary a trace of the Argentine in its interior. There were meeting rooms dedicated to such as Laszlo Kubala, the Hungarian who played for Barca from 1951 to 1961, but not one for Diego. Naples, in contrast, subsequently named the Sao Paulo stadium after him.
The reason for the Catalan coolness is simple. Maradona’s time in Barcelona was marked by injury, the first steps towards addiction, and under-performance on the pitch. The last is sometimes overstated. In 1983, Maradona did guide Barca to wins in the Copa del Rey and League Cup.
But the persistent image of the Wee Man in a Barca shirt is either him writhing after the awful tackle by Andoni Goikoetxea, the Butcher of Bilbao, or drop-kicking opponents after the final of the 1984 Copa del Rey.
His two seasons were thus tumultuous rather than glorious. The La Liga title came to Barcelona only after Maradona had departed and Terry Venables arrived. The death of the Englishman last year was marked by more obvious mourning in Barcelona than that accorded to Maradona.
The Argentine had to go to Naples to find the worship he both craved and, ultimately, deserved.
There is a feeling in Barcelona that Maradona never appreciated Messi, even undermined him. This is a convincing complaint. The pedestal for the Greatest of All Time has only space for one.
It would be both understandable and in character for Maradona to jostle Messi out of that spot. After all, he did the same with Pele.
This is not a criticism. To perform like Maradona, one must have a sense not only of destiny but of omnipotence. It is why he is a god in Naples.
D10S Existe. This proclamation shouts from banners on side streets and thoroughfares. It does not require translation. The cules of Barca may not be believers but Maradona lives on in the heart and soul of southern Italy. In the city of Gomorrah, he is L’Immortale.