Diego Maradona lifted to the skies by teammates and fans in celebration of the Mexico 86 triumph (Photo credit: FIFA) As a kid with a ...
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| Diego Maradona lifted to the skies by teammates and fans in celebration of the Mexico 86 triumph (Photo credit: FIFA) |
As a kid with a burning passion for football in 1994, off the vibes I got from my father and highlights on TV, the build up to the second group game of the best ever World Cup in my personal opinion and the vociferous hype around a certain Diego Armando Maradona didn’t help my perception of the player.
Maradona remains great regardless of what I think, but my
beef for the greatest showman I know dates back to that game at the Foxboro
stadium.
Every news outlet way back in 1994 didn’t stop forcing
the pocket sized dynamite down my throat ahead of Argentina’s game against
Nigeria, he was the man to watch out for, Kickoff, a popular football magazine
had dedicated pages to him in their latest edition just before the mundial, I wasn’t
sold.
Fear is one thing, respect is another, on the 25th
of June 1994, I missed Samson Sia Sia’s goal as power outage meant I had to
walk a distance to see the game, it was late in the night but I chose punishment
over missing the game, two quick free kicks by the genius of Bueno Aires and it
all went south…
If VAR were available way back and the men behind the
screen weren’t English referees, not sure Argentina would have beaten Nigeria
on the day, not sure I’d feel this way about Maradona but the events that
followed and his dismissal from the tournament after testing
positive to ephedrine, a performance-enhancing stimulant ended his
international career and it’s southward ever since.
While he was the coach of the Argentine national team, at the 2010
edition of the World Cup, Walter Samuel’s goal that handed Argentina a 1-0 win
over Nigeria would have been chalked off as it should never have stood with
replays showing an infringement on a Nigerian player in the build up to the
goal.
2018 wasn’t different, Maradona was neither a player nor a coach, but he
was in the stands as the VAR refused to award a late penalty to Nigeria as
Odion Ighalo pressured Marcos Rojo to handle in the Argentina area, not once,
not twice, you can’t fault my grouse against the nation and their best ever
export.
News broke out on Wednesday, 25th of November
of the passing of one of the most influential personality to ever play the
round leather game and the entire world hasn’t stopped paying tribute to the
man that divides opinions even in death.
Hate him or love him, Diego Maradona is an idol, scratch that, he’s a
god; he grew to become a religion many worship in Argentina, he became
transcendental and his pictures can be found in Naples along that of Jesus
Christ as drawn by Italian artistes.
There’s a thin line between the mythical legendary tricky number 10,
from the 1982 World Cup to the 1986 triumph in Mexico and the chaotic lifestyle
that ultimately ruined him; the art we came to admire and the acts we wished he never got involved in, in all he was flawed but loved
regardless.
On the field of play, Maradona
was unplayable, as a Nigerian, the beef is deep but not as real as that of
anyone from the land of the queen; Gary Lineker joined the rest of the world to
pay tribute to the fallen giant but not without a dose of sarcasm in reference
to the “hand of god” episode and no matter how much anyone wants to dwell on
his ills, his feats with football cannot be swept under any carpet.
Winning titles across three
countries, Argentina, Italy and Spain, as well as a glittering national team
career, Maradona earned his respect from almost every quarter that matters and
lived, while he had his demons, in the form of drug addiction, sex, alcohol and
betting, he will go six feet down as the light of many, as Argentina goes into
national mourning and a promise of state burial.
Lionel Messi, a certain contender
for the all-time greatest said on Wednesday “He is gone but he will be with us
for eternity” and that counts for something.
Whoever you’re listening to,
whatever the version of him you like to dwell on, you will never be able to
detach the other side of his incredible coin, one that would be a legal tender
even in nations where lateness to a meeting could attract death penalty.
Diego Maradona immersed himself
into everything he did, he was never a moderate man, everywhere he went, he
colored the city, explored and lived the life, from Naples where he redefined
the ambitions of the Italian side to Barcelona where the world saw the good,
the bad and the ugly side of him.
In Argentina, they live for his
impassioned World Cups, especially the 1986 edition; in Napoli, they pray for
wild Sundays, his draw was magnetic because in a twinkle of your naked eyes,
anything could happen and that epitomized his essence.
Diego Maradona sucked the marrow
out of life, maybe he’d have remained invincible but flaws make men perfect, and
Diego was perfect in his own ways, not in my eyes and I’m sure a few others
share my sentiments, but he was the god of many.
As Argentina labored to victory
over Nigeria at the last World Cup in Russia, Maradona was animated at the
executive cabin and had to be ushered out at the end, but videos showed earlier
as he held a Nigerian lady and asked her to a dance, it could only be Maradona.
A mix of both worlds, to every of
the 1991 midnight prostitute story that ended with a kid asking him about his
game and him later realizing the call was tapped, there will always be a
celestial performance that leaves even the heavenly hosts awed at his
excellence.
In hindsight, while plaudits rain
and encomiums drown the body of the late maestro, it would not be left
un-asked, if Maradona was an African player, would he have gotten away with the
drug issues? Would the world understand?
Napoli have confirmed they will
rename their stadium after their most illustrious import, Argentina leaders
have confirmed he’ll be given a state burial, we expect lots of such from other
quarters and for a long time, the name will be in the air like the virus that
is currently threatening humanity.
Diego Armando Maradona is gone, a
legend by all standards, the greatest according to a lot of people, maybe not
for me but his place in the history of the round leather game is forever
secured, and people come people go… Football remains.
