ARGENTINA’S FLAWED DEMIGOD
Diego Maradona, who has died aged 60, was one of the greatest football players ever – an attacking midfielder with powerful acceleration and an astonishing ability to control the ball. But to his fellow Argentinians, he was more than just a footballer, said Jim White in The Daily Telegraph. A “potent mix of Robin Hood, Dan Dare and Superman”, he was more like their patron saint. He may have been “flawed and self-destructive”; but that only made what he did for his country, in the 1986 World Cup in particular, “all the more meaningful”.
The tournament, in Mexico, had come at a “critical juncture” for Argentina: it had just escaped from the yoke of a brutal dictatorship that had killed many of its own people, and led it into an unwinnable war. So when, just four years after Argentina’s humiliating defeat in the Falklands, this damaged man, this poor boy from the barrio, raised the World Cup trophy, “he did a lot more than cheer up his fellow citizens”. He provided them with a “tangible sense of possibility”. The fact that, en route to that victory, he had routed the English team, made the win all the sweeter; and that he had resorted to cheating to do so did not trouble his fans one bit.
The incident took place 51 minutes into the quarter-final; the score was 0-0, and players were packed by England’s goal. Steve Hodge misdirected a clearance, at which point, Maradona – who was just 5ft 5in – leapt high up above the head of the 6ft goalie, Peter Shilton, and punched the ball into the net. The Argentinian had flicked his head to disguise the action; the referee failed to spot it; and the goal was allowed. England fans were beside themselves with fury and indignation, but the Argentinians were thrilled by this act of national revenge. Maradona, having initially denied the foul, then famously ascribed it to the “hand of God”.
If his first goal in that match went down in infamy, his second – four minutes later – went down in legend. In what has been described as “ten seconds of pure, unimaginable soccer skill”, he picked up the ball in his own half, dribbled it past five England defenders, changing directions like a skier on a slalom, used a feint to get past Shilton, then slipped it into an open net. It is often described as one of the best goals ever scored. “I felt like applauding,” Gary Lineker admitted. Yet 1986 proved to be a high point on a roller coaster of a career that was marked by “glory, drama, indiscipline” and drug addiction, said The Guardian. A controversial figure at Barcelona, Maradona was worshipped as a god in Naples – and thrown out of the 1994 World Cup. “He was also exploited commercially by clubs, hangers-on and his national governing body”, as well as by his country’s military regime. “Maradona was a good diversion when things were difficult for the regime,” said Settimio Aloisio, of Argentinos Juniors. “He kept people happy. The Romans used the circus; our military used the football stadiums.”
Diego Maradona was born in Buenos Aires in 1960. His father, a factory worker, was of Guaraní Indian descent; his mother, a cleaner, was the daughter of poor Italian immigrants, and a devout Roman Catholic. Both were Perónists. Home was a shack in the notorious Villa Fiorito shanty town that they had built themselves. As a toddler, Maradona fell into an open cesspit. “Diegito,” shouted his uncle Cirilo, “keep your head above the shit.” It was a mantra he would repeat in times of trouble. It was Cirilo who gave him his first football. He was three years old, and he loved it so much, he took it to bed. His talent was obvious from the start: when, aged eight, he went for a trial with the youth side of Argentinos Juniors, Los Cebollitas (The Little Onions), the coach was dumbfounded by what the small boy with the large head could do with a ball. “He seemed to come from another planet,” he said.
By the age of ten, he was doing tricks to impress the crowd at half time, and being mentioned in the national media; he made his professional debut ten days before his 16th birthday. But there were already danger signs: he was a sore loser, prone to tantrums, and he was being injected with painkillers. At 20 he moved to Boca Juniors, where he scored 28 goals in 40 appearances. Then, aged 21, he was bought by Barcelona for a record £5m. He helped the team to victory in the 1983 Copa del Rey – but he started drinking heavily and taking cocaine. He broke his ankle, fought with the club’s president, and started an on-pitch brawl in front of King Juan Carlos. In 1984, he transferred to Napoli for a record £6.9m – where they adored him. He led the club to two Serie A victories, and Uefa Cup glory. In return, Neapolitans plastered his face all over the city. Yet Maradona continued to startle in darker ways too, said The New York Times. He was accused of conspiring to traffic drugs with the Camorra, the local Mafia; he refused to acknowledge paternity of the son he’d had with a local woman (though he and his son later became close); and in 1991, he failed a cocaine test, leading to a lengthy ban. Nevertheless, when he left, in 1992, Napoli retired his No. 10 shirt in his honour.
“His second goal against England is often described as one of the best ever. ‘I felt like
applauding,’ Gary Lineker admitted”
In the World Cup of 1990, though not on his best form, he’d led Argentina to the final. But two games into the tournament in the US in 1994, he tested positive for banned substances – which effectively ended his international career. (For years, he had travelled with a fake plastic penis, which he used to dodge urine tests; it was kept in a museum until subsequently stolen while on a nationwide tour.) When reporters gathered outside his house to ask about the ban, he shot at them with an air gun. After that, his weight ballooned, and his health deteriorated. In 1996, doctors revealed that his cocaine abuse had caused brain damage. In the early 2000s, having often professed his admiration for Fidel Castro, he moved to Cuba. He said he was going to get treatment, but was reported to have spent much of his time partying (and to have fathered three children there).
In 2004, he was divorced from Claudia Villafañe, his wife of 14 years, with whom he had two daughters. He suffered from hepatitis, spent time in a psychiatric hospital and had to undergo gastric surgery. In 2010, he was appointed to coach Argentina’s World Cup side. Despite having Lionel Messi on the team, it was knocked out in the quarter-finals. But back home, the people still loved him, just as they never stopped loving him in Naples. As the city’s mayor, Luigi de Magistris, put it last week: “Diego made our people dream – he redeemed Naples with his genius.”