You can't begin to recognize Diego Maradona without watching him play, with his seemingly endless bag of tricks on the field, his charismatic personality, the magic he casts on his supporters, and the way he enrages his opponents. He is an angel and a devil in one; his talent is amazing, his cunning is even more so, and the best of both worlds is on display at the same game.
It was Mexico 1986.
World Cup
Argentina faced England in the last eight, just four years after the Anglo-African Falklands War, and that was every time Argentina
the national team
out of the tournament (no matter who the opponent is), Argentina
fan club
Singing loudly on the pitch, He who does not jump is an Englishman! Then the whole stadium jumps up and down together for ages.
After 51 minutes of stalemate, Maradona showed his devilish side and stole the first goal by cheating in a way that would have broken the hearts of England fans. Jorge Valdano's cross was deflected by England's defender Steve Hodge, Maradona raised his fist high in the air and scored the goal with his hand, ahead of England's keeper Peter Shilton. The only people in the world who didn't see the truth were Tunisia's chief adjudicator Ali Bennaceur and his line judges.
The Argentine said after the game that the goal was partly scored by God and partly scored by Maradona's head. Maradona later recalled that after he scored the goal, he asked his teammates to hug him to convince the referee of the legitimacy of the goal.
But four minutes later, with the British still reeling from the injustice, Maradona delivered a truly spectacular performance (what happened in the next 10.5 seconds is, by general agreement, one of the most beautiful goals ever scored, and was later voted Goal of the Century by FIFA's official website)!
Maradona received the ball in the Argentinian half, turned 180 degrees, slipped between Peter Beardsley and Peter Reid, then raced down the right, twice crossing the line, he accelerated through Terry Butcher's defense, shaking off Terry Fenwick, and after 55 meters, he was in the penalty box, where he took down goalkeeper Shilton. After a 55 meter run, he beat keeper Shilton in the box, and when Terry Butcher came over with a desperation tackle, he was instantly cool as a pro and pushed the ball into the far corner of the net.
And that goal meant that even with 35 minutes left on the clock, the game was effectively over.
American author Norman Mailer, in his book The Prisoner of Sex, analyzes the price of fame: fame is the phone ringing several times a week with requests for interviews, even if most of them are interviews you don't want to go on; fame is the persistent and polite interruptions of your thoughts in the street; fame is the suppression of late-night peeing in alleys for fear of being in the papers the next day; fame is not being able to get drunk in strange bars; fame is not being able to soothe excessive depression with a night of indulgence... Fame is not being able to get drunk in strange bars; Fame is not being able to soothe the excesses of melancholy through the indulgence of the night...
You could also say that Maradona's story is that of a tragic genius, a natural soccer wizard who thought he was a god and who suffered deeply for that idea. During the first 36 years of Maradona's life (1960-1996), soccer went from being a popular pastime to a truly worldwide sport. Fans, players and their clubs had to submit to media/commercial pressures they had never dreamed of before. Maradona's reputation has placed him coincidentally in the middle of this whole huge money-making machine (the players).
transfer to another club (professional sports)
The Maradona is the center of the world's most important social, political, and religious phenomenon: the television broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and the sale of merchandise, and therefore Maradona cannot be described as a story of a soccer player chasing a goal on the field, but rather Maradona must be viewed as a unique social, political, and religious phenomenon.
As mentioned, he was an angel and a devil. Perhaps Maradona can help us understand (or just feel) why soccer is important (or not)? And how it can save a man in his most lonely and desolate moments...
