Adios, Diego... Let the golden kid rest in the hands of God
In this file photo taken on September 10, 2018 Argentine legend Diego Maradona gestures during his first training session as coach of Mexican football club Dorados, at the Banorte stadium in Culiacan, Sinaloa State, Mexico.
‘If I was in a white dress at a wedding and a muddy ball arrived… I would stop it from the chest, without thinking about it”. That was Diego Armando Maradona expressing what comes to him naturally. Even in the most unlikely outfit, he would still chest the muddy ball.
El Pibe de Oro (the golden kid) is no more. He has lived his time and succumbed to the dictates of nature. Condolence messages are still pouring from all over the world just to tell us that he may be dead but his legacy lives in every cranium that ever beheld him play football.
Argentina may have already seen this rising prodigy but the world had not yet warmed up to him. He made his debut World Cup appearance in 1982 but was sent off after aggressive action against the Brazilian Joao Batista in the 85th minute during the second round, Group ‘C’ match. They lost 3-1. Who would have imagined what lay in the future as the young man walked off the pitch?
It was the 1986 World Cup that helped stamp his authority as the best player of his generation. “He had complete mastery of the ball. When Maradona ran with the ball or dribbled through the defence, he seemed to have the ball tied to his boots. I remember our early training sessions with him: the rest of the team were so amazed that they just stood and watched him. We all thought ourselves privileged to be witnesses of his genius.”
That was how his FC Barcelona teammate Lobo Carrasco described him at the time. This observation was proven right by Maradona himself during the quarter final match between Argentina and England in 1986 in Mexico. He dribbled for some 60 metres, eluding five English players, before slotting a superb goal against the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
He had scored the first goal by using his hand and the goal stood. The French newspaper L’Equipe summed up his performance that day by referring to him as “half-angel, half-devil” an apt summary that cemented a legend’s reputation.
More than a game
It was in Napoli that this golden boy reached the peak of his professional career. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their first ever Serie A title in 1986–87. They would win many more trophies with the talented Argentine. The Neapolitans are in deep mourning, and it is worth understanding their deep emotions. Maradona was their talisman and restored their pride in their country.
Every sport has its revolutionary and after Maradona, football had been raised to another bar; a notch that we expect someone may someday surpass. It is not yet time for that and another prodigy may already have been born. Football is not just a game; it is a great international socio-economic and political movement. It is a source of pride that can never be measured.
In 1986, with the two African teams eliminated from the World Cup, most Kenyans chose to support Argentina and Brazil over European teams. We may not know exactly why we favoured them over Europe but we are sure that their socio-economic conditions closely mirror ours. We are all feeling the imperialistic exploitation.
At the time, many Kenyans would have supported the Germans. We knew all their players simply because the national television fed us every Saturday night with their game (Football made in Germany). After Maradona did his thing, we thought we were watching a cheaper league not commensurate with what he offered.
In 1990, we supported Cameroon against Maradona. The Indomitable Lions were closer home and we felt it our duty to do so. Maradona was playing with an in-growing toe nail but he still threatened the Lions in the most scary fashion. More than 20 fouls were committed against the Argentine and in the end, Cameroon got the single most important goal from Omam Biyik. A red card had been shown to his brother Kana Biyik.
Any player donning the number 10 jersey had to be very good. The legendary Pele and Maradona had cemented that into our consciousness. Players like Wilberforce Mulamba of AFC Leopards is what came so close to our minds. Well, the curtain falls on the greatest footballer. Many may come later and fill the void but the world shall remember El Pibe de Oro.
