By Seán Crosbie

What really can you say about Diego Maradona that hasn’t already been said? The player of his generation, a once-in-a-lifetime talent. A god in Argentina, Barcelona, Naples, Seville. They don’t make them like Diego anymore. Not just in terms of ability, but in personality and lifestyle as well. Maradona was a product of his time. A time where professionalism did not exist, players did not take care of themselves in the same way that they do now. In Asif Kapadia’s documentary on the Maradona titled, ‘Diego Maradona’, we get an in-depth look at the already publicized lifestyle of one of football’s finest. Maradona would be out in Naples with the Camorra crime family on a Saturday night and then turn up on a Sunday and win games for Napoli. Things like this help build the near mythical persona of Maradona in the heads of all football fans, however it does leave me wondering just how much of his personality is romanticized? And was it a detriment to him as a person?

Every facet of Diego Maradona is romanticized, more so than any other player. Even someone like Pelé, bar maybe in Brazil, is not nearly put on as much of a pedestal as Maradona. If anything, Pelé is criticized by modern football fans. Obviously, Twitter is not a good place to seek out well thought out opinions, but it’s quite funny looking at a man who has won three World Cups be labelled a fraud by football fans. Granted his claim of 1,000 goals is outrageous and even at that the standard of opponent he played against in Brazil was probably the same level you and I would play against on a Sunday morning. Then again, you and I do not have three World Cup winner’s medals. But Maradona is above all others, his deviancy on and off the pitch are championed.

The ‘Hand of God’

Mexico, June 22, 1986. Argentina vs England in the World Cup quarterfinals. The day Maradona became an honorary Irishman. Claiming he cheated the English out of a World Cup downplays the man’s genius. We all know what he did after scoring that goal. It has been beaten to death, the thinking that those two goals are a metaphor for Maradona as a person, showing the two sides of his character. To be honest, with or without the ‘Hand of God’, Diego Maradona would have beaten the English all by himself. He chose to punch the ball that day because it was the English, simple as. He didn’t need to cheat, he wanted to. It is hard if you’re Irish not to relish in that thought and look, I’m not here to romanticize cheating (Lord knows I wouldn’t be writing like this about Thierry Henry). But has an act of cheating, in any sport, ever been romanticized like this one has. Two of football’s most iconic moments happening in the same match, with one redeeming the other. However, the act of cheating is put on more of a pedestal than the literal ‘Goal of the century’. If the two goals reflect Maradona as a person, the fact that the ‘Hand of God, stands out more with fans is a perfect reflection of the traits that they champion in Maradona as a person.

Diego and Maradona

In the ‘Diego Maradona’, documentary, his personal trainer, Fernando Signorini, says that with, “Diego I would go to the end of the world…but with Maradona, I wouldn’t take a step”. Diego and Maradona are two polarizing characters. Diego, the humble, hard-working, talented footballer from Buenos Aires. Maradona, the flawed genius, entangled in the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of being football’s greatest ever talent. It is the latter that the world was obsessed with. Maradona is equally remembered for being a gifted footballer, as he is for being a party animal. A man with an addictive personality, crippled by the pressures that come with his talent. From fifteen years of age, when he burst on to the scene with Argentinos Jnrs, he was the provider for his family. Always in the spotlight. Surrounded by an unsustainable lifestyle that left him worse for wear.

Maradona passed away fifteen years to the day that the world lost George Best, another generational footballer who fell too deep into stardom. Much like Maradona his demons and downfalls were romanticized just as much as his talent. It is a common thing among football fans. Players like Gascoigne and to a lesser extent, Ronaldinho, are championed for their god given ability, but there is a fascination and near romanticization of their downfalls and struggles with containing their lifestyle. No ordinary member of society that had these struggles would be romanticized at all. I guess I’m just wondering why football fans idealize the flaws in these men. Does being good at football wipe your slate clean? If you believe Maradona it does.

At his testimonial in 2001, Maradona gave a speech to sold out La Bombanera. His words at the end of the speech were the most poignant.

“Football is the most beautiful sport in the world. If a person messes up, football doesn’t have to pay. I messed up, and I paid. But the ball…the ball does not stain”.

He was a footballing goliath and when it’s all said and done that’s what we’ll remember.

Gracias, D10s.