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Diego Maradona with Freddie Mercury and members of the band Queen. (Twitter/Queen/Neal Preston)
God, fave, Queen
It’s March of 1981 in Buenos Aires, and Diego Maradona and Freddie Mercury are kings. The former had simply accomplished a $4mn switch to Boca Juniors after working roughshod for 5 years with Argentinos Juniors. Mercury’s band Queen in the meantime had launched their eighth studio album, the synthesizer extravaganza ‘The Game’, and had been on the ‘South America Bites the Dust’ tour. The band was a fan — in a letter to Mercury’s biographer Leslie-Ann Jones, lead guitarist Brian May wrote of Maradona: “The spirit of the pursuit of excellence lives in the man” — and Mercury invited him on stage in entrance of 300,000-strong Estadio Velez Sarsfield .
Maradona peeled off his Argentina quantity 10 jersey, swapped it for the frontman’s Flash t-shirt and launched ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. Backstage, he placed on May’s Union Jack tee and posed for images. Argentine press in the meantime first went after Mercury — citing the shirt change as a “demagogic act” — and a 12 months later, when the images resurfaced through the Falklands War, attacked Maradona. The footballer reminded folks that the images had been taken a month earlier than any battle started. Argentina couldn’t keep mad at their prodigal son for lengthy anyway.
People collect on the road close to Bella Vista cemetery, the place the casket for soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona arrives for the burial, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Naples Stir Up
Naples was second residence to Maradona who knew the San Paolo Stadium was Argentina’s finest probability of beating hosts Italy in 1990. Italians from different components of the nation, needed nothing to do with Naples which represented socio-economic faultlines that bordered on racism. The wealthy industrial north didn’t contemplate Naples, within the poor agricultural south, part of Italy and through a Juventus-Napoli match, nasty followers would dub it “shame of Italy.”
Maradona made a miracle out of this misfit main his group to 2 Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup win. Loved like a patron saint, a nurse is alleged to have left a vial of his blood “on a shrine in a Catholic church.” In a cemetery, a banner was suspended, taunting the useless that, “You don’t know what you missed.” A piece of graffiti replied: “how do you know we missed it?”
Before the semifinal towards Italy, Maradona can be quoted by The New York Times assaying, “’Italy makes it feel important one day of the year, but forgets about it the other 364.” He wrote in his autobiography ‘El Diego:’ “The Argentinian national anthem, for the first time in the whole World Cup, was applauded from beginning to end. For me that was already a victory. I was moved: these were my people.”
The guests would win on penalties.
A banner of Diego Maradona is seen within the stands earlier than the Copa Sudamericana – Round of 16 – First Leg match in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 26, 2020. (Reuters)
Why Mexico, Diego?
It’s ‘tranquilo’, mentioned Maradona to a British reporter who had travelled all the way in which from Manchester to fulfill him. In considered one of his final makes an attempt at teaching, Argentina’s reward to soccer discovered himself within the metropolis of Culiacan in Sinaloa, managing their Mexican second division membership, Dorados de Sinaloa. The Sinaloa cartel was flagged by US officers as one of the vital highly effective cartels on this planet, the top of which was Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. Locals mentioned that Maradona didn’t stay in a flowery resort however as an alternative in a house. He attended baseball video games by himself with none guards and someway managed to search out – in his personal phrases – some peace, proper in that a part of the world that has seen something however peace.
Fideling round
There’s an image of Maradona proudly displaying his Fidel Castro tattoo to the person himself. He would as soon as name the revolutionary chief from Cuba his ‘second father’. The Argentine’s politics routinely careened in direction of Latin America’s left and his admiration for Castro knew no bounds. Stories starting from the Cuban clearing up his schedule and spending time with Maradona in his workplace for 3 hours enjoying soccer to Castro showing on Maradona’s TV present speaking in regards to the re-election of George W Bush added to the lore each held within the eyes of their supporters. It can be no shock that Maradona would go away on the identical date that his hero did 4 years earlier. When Bush visited Argentina in 2005 for a summit, Maradona, who was very vocal towards neo-imperial tendencies of earlier England and later the US, would proclaim, “I hate everything that comes from the United States. I hate it with all my strength.”
Fidel Castro was one of many Latin America’s Leftist leaders Maradona bonded with. (Twitter)
A cheeky birthday want
Diego Maradona’s‘the hand of God’ objective towards England within the 1986 World Cup stays one of the vital iconic occasions to happen within the historical past of the game regardless of its deceitful nature. The eccentric Argentine simply days forward of his 60th birthday made a reference to that iconic second in a somewhat cheeky method. In his final main interview, he was requested by the France Football what would his dream reward for his 60th birthday can be? Maradona replied: “ I dream of being able to score against England again… this time with my right hand”. Needless to say, he burst into laughter in typical Maradona method.
Ten & Tennis the Menace
“#FuerzaDiego” wrote World No 9 Diego Schwartzman on a digicam after beating Richard Gasquet on the Paris Masters in early November. The message, ‘Force Diego’ was for his namesake.
“Everyone knows Argentina because of Maradona. That’s why I put ‘Fuerza Diego,’ because he’s struggling, he’s not healthy right now and he had surgery last night.”
In an interview with the ATP through the Tour Finals final week, Schwartzman, a Boca Juniors fan – the place Maradona completed his profession – claimed, “I think 98 percent of my name is because of Maradona. Everyone whose name is Diego, (born) between 90’s to 2000 is because of Maradona.”
The 1986 World Cup star’s been photographed with the Big 4 – and also you couldn’t inform who was the ‘fan.’ But Maradona isn’t simply there for the polaroid moments.
In a packed stadium in Buenos Aires for Argentina’s Davis Cup semi-final towards Australia in 2006, he introduced soccer fanaticism to the sector – overpowering all tennis etiquette. Dressed in his fabled quantity 10 nationwide jersey, he whipped the group right into a frenzy, with orchestra conductor-like chants of ‘ARGENTINA’ between factors, and celebrating wildly by waving a shirt after profitable a vital level.
Even earlier than that tie, when information broke of Aussie star Lleyton Hewitt hiring two bodyguards throughout the matches, Maradona known as for the nationwide group to ‘ruin him.’ Argentina received the tie 5-0.
A decade later in 2016, when Argentina reached the ultimate towards Croatia in Zagreb, he sat within the VIP field, suspending the nationwide flag with “Aca estamos familia Maradona (Maradona family is here)” on it. His countrymen received their first Davis Cup title.
People collect on the road close to Bella Vista cemetery, the place the casket for soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona arrives for the burial, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Stressed fan
Argentina confronted a must-win match of their final group sport towards Nigeria on the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and had their biggest icon in attendance. The Albiceleste had had a stuttering marketing campaign to date and had been coming off a thrashing by the hands of Croatia.
But with Maradona within the stands, he was sure to catch extra consideration than occasions within the center. He was seen praying for divine assist earlier than kick-off and even unveiled a banner depicting himself – who else? He celebrated wildly when Lionel Messi opened the scoring earlier than falling asleep. It obtained tense when the African group grabbed an equaliser, however Maradona was at hand with a double center finger salute when Marcus Rojo scored the winner within the 86th minute. By some accounts, Maradona wanted medical therapy after the match.
Shooting at reporters
In February 1994, a bunch of reporters landed at his residence in Buenos Aires unannounced. Upset, Maradona took his air rifle, crouched behind a automobile and shot at them, which led to accidents to 4 folks. In 1998, he obtained a suspended jail sentence of two years and 10 months for the offence, in accordance with the BBC.
No love was misplaced between him and the reporters within the years that adopted. Maradona was on his approach to Argentina’s squad announcement for the 2010 World Cup when his automobile was surrounded by reporters. Unable to maintain driving, he compelled his means out by reportedly working over the foot of a photo-journalist. To rub salt into the injured photographer’s wounds, Maradona – as per the Press Association – shouted: “What an a**hole you are! How can you put your leg there where it can get run over, man?”
Inputs: Gaurav Bhatt, Shahid Judge, Shashank Nair, Andrew Amsan, Mihir Vasavda, Tushar Bhadhuri
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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