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The passing away of Diego Maradona.
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There was a great sadness across the world of football. The passing away of a football icon and a hero, a genius who made it all seem so easy and who gave us a glimpse of how the beautiful game of football is played in the heavens. Diego Maradona may not have had the hand of God but there is no doubt, his left foot was blessed with powers no mere mortal could have developed.
My first world cup experience was Mexico 1986. Before that, televised football was just something you saw now and then. Of course, playing football at every opportunity possible, the passion was there. Watching what I consider my favourite world cup ever, it really ensured that football would become a central part of my life. It was also the first time many of us all laid our eyes on Diego Maradona. A stocky number ten, controlling the tempo, the plan and the central figure of a decent Argentinian team. He made the tournament his own. Never before and since has a single player almost singlehandedly guided his country to the biggest prize in world football.
His two goals against England, a country who had defeated his homeland in warfare, just a few years earlier, were taken down by him. Many say that the two goals he scored summarise the man, the hero and the villain. The handball and the wonder goal. These are all simplistic statements to make and not one which needs to be debated any longer. No one ever mentions how he was the most fouled players in the world cup or the thuggery aimed at him in this match and throughout his career. Maybe the game was different then but that doesn’t make it right. Whichever way, both goals do tell us a lot of the genius of Maradona.
Let’s deal with the elephant in the room first, that handball goal. The ball takes an unlikely deflection and loops into the centre of the penalty area. England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton is of course looking out for the ball and so goes towards it. No other player is quick enough to react to it except of course Maradona. As he approached the ball, we can flashback to the 1982 world cup where in the semi final between France and West Germany, Harold Schumacher had come out and seriously injured his victim. Maradona, a football fanatic, would of course have seen this footage before. Yet he carried on going for it, knowing the risks. He needed to win this game for his country, to bring joy to his countrymen, to hurt the country which had killed so many of his compatriots, in the only way they could, that on a football pitch. Shilton to his credit had only an intention to catch the ball. As the clash neared, Maradona realised that this was a battle of hands, not heads. In that split moment, he decided he had to what was needed to get there first. Being Maradona, he did that with perfection. Using a disguised hand, he flicked the ball over Shilton and ran away to celebrate and called his teammates to celebrate with him. The goal stood and England felt cheated.
The second goal was probably the greatest goal of all time. Why? The match was a grudge match against bitter rivals. The pitch was not the best dribbling surface with bobbles. The intense heat of a Mexican summer. The dribble, the finish and the celebrations – we can watch this goal over and over again – and it will still astound us. There are no words which can describe this goal to give it the justice that it deserves so lets stop here.
Another brilliant performance against Belgium in the semi finals followed by a narrow victory over West Germany in the final ensured the world cup went home. His country had the hero they craved. This victory followed four years of success with Napoli.
There is of course a lot more to his history than this but at this moment in time, if feels right to stop there. In an era of statistics, heroes and villains, right and wrong, the passing of this footballing hero gives us a chance to look back at why we all fell in love with the game of football. It wasn’t the fact that our team won silverware or brought the most expensive player. Nor was it that our team had more possessions or better xg’s. It was because football is a game which connected us to the rest of the planet. We could all play, using the same device albeit a football, tennis ball or a crushed tin can. Ability never mattered because we were all different and in unison, it all fitted together fine. We laughed, joked, ran, kicked and at the end, simply stood and talked to each other. That same scene shared globally, across all countries, rich or poor, all nationalities, we were all the same because we loved football. We loved playing it and we loved watching it. We just wanted to celebrate with our team and wanted to cry with our team. We wanted to take ourselves away from our worldly concerns and just pretend to be that hero on the football pitch just for those few precious minutes in time.
Back to Diego Maradona who was also that escapism for us. How could someone do what he did with a football. That pass, that dribble, that chip, that turn. And maybe this explains that uneasy sadness that passed through all football fans this last week. We all knew that we would not see him take the pitch to play as he did in 1986 and that we would be restricted to watching old film reels of him on fifa tv. No, it was the reality biting in that we have not seen such a genius in the last thirty years and that we are unlikely to ever see that again. Sure, there will be world class players but even in his era, Maradona was a cut above all the world class players around him. We will see innovative systems, passing movements and wonder shots. But deep within our hearts, we know that we will never see a Diego Maradona again. That young boy who left the poverty of his childhood and found that all the fame and fortune that his talent brought him came at a cost. A cost, maybe in hindsight, he may not have chosen to pay had he known.
Finally, Diego, where ever you are now, thank you for all the joy you brought to us all. The football you played was so magical, mesmerising and simply out of this world. Of course, you worked hard on the training pitches to develop your talent but it was also a gift only you got and you shared it with us all. In our day to day lives, you brought a ray of sunshine by taking us out of the mundane and into the fantasy, all so temporarily, but it was enough. Diego, may your soul rest in peace.
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