Diego Maradona: No Method To His Madness, Yet A Legend

I have always loved this man who wore two watches, large diamond earrings and who clutched Rosary beads to help him pray for a fair match in which Argentina finally won against Nigeria. There is no method to his madness but it’s this madness, his passion for soccer and life that the world was crazy after. This wacky legend was Diego Armando Maradona, the famous Argentine professional football player and manager. He passed away yesterday at the age of 60, and I miss him already. Maradona was the reason I got hooked onto soccer, especially world cups. Of course there's the Brazilian super star Pelé, but he was before my time, before I could comprehend the sport. So, it was Maradona for me. My father introduced me to soccer and to Maradona. I remember getting up at unearthly hours to watch his crazy play. And boy was it a treat!

Why this fierce devotion for him?

So, why is there such fierce devotion for him? Soccer fans for whom soccer was a religion, Maradona was ‘God’! He had turned a mere game into a form of art. His home country Argentina has declared three days of national mourning once his death was announced. The Mayor of the port city of Naples, a city which Maradona transformed into the centre of the soccer universe during the peak of his career, has suggested the stadium that is home to his former club, Napoli, should be renamed for him.

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All this even though his dark side was very public. Everyone knew of his drug addiction for decades also that he was thrown out of a World Cup in disgrace after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, later he was plagued with severe health issues, courtesy his life of excess. But what stood out was the fact that he never shied away from acknowledging his vices. Though these flaws are not welcome in anybody they made him human, his soccer fans almost forgave him. If I look at him from a philosophical perspective – his shines because the darkness in his character sharpened the portrait of his sportsman persona.

His greatest moments

When researching for Maradona’s greatest moments I have brought it down to these three – firstly, his greatest achievement as a footballer was to single-handedly steer Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in 1986. Secondly, he led Napoli to the club's first-ever Scudetto in 1987. Thirdly, being named the second greatest football player of the 20th century by World Soccer Magazine, in its last issue of the bygone century– Maradona came second after Pelé. That was not a surprise given the fact that the occupant of the top spot, is arguably the greatest player the world has ever seen till this date. And even though the Argentinian was known for his off-field tantrums it did not hurt the bonhomie between the two.

But, Maradona’s most iconic moment was arguably his infamous ‘Hand of God’ moment during Argentina versus England match in the 1986 FIFA World Cup at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

According to soccer rules, he should have received a yellow card for clear handball but interestingly due to lack of technology, the match referees could not get a clear view of the play and the goal was awarded to Argentina, as a result, they went on to win the match 2-1. Both the goals were scored by Maradona and the second goal in the match is regarded as the ‘Goal of the Century’. After the match against England, Maradona conceded that the goal was scored “a little with his head, and a little with the hand of God”.

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Life lessons from the legend

“Just trust your instincts and go for it”, said the football legend, Diego Maradona and so I have followed this mantra till now. One interesting fact I read about him was that at 5’5” Maradona did not tower over his opposition. But his physical stature gave him a low centre of gravity with which he could manoeuver better than most other players. He would often dribble past opposition on a run and outwit them. This is what Maradona taught me - use your shortcomings to your advantage.

Image Credit: Outlook

The views expressed are the author's own.