I HAVE SEEN MARADONA!

 

"Oh mama mama mama / Oh mama mama mama / Sai perchè mi batte il Corazon / Ho visto Maradona, Ho visto Maradona / Oh mama, inamorato sono"…..

I saw Maradona, I was lucky to live in the time when Diego was playing when he was the protagonist of the football, and with his successes he would later become the greatest player of all time, even today he remains such. It represents football, the ball and everything spherical. To say Maradona is dead is almost the same as saying football is dead. Therefore, the news of separation from life is horrible in the world of sports and especially in that of football. Because Maradona is not like any other player, but the great champion, the architect of the 1986 World Cup victory, the soul of Argentina, the heart of Napoli and the successes in Serie "A". With this artist of the ball player who will arrive in Naples on July 5, 1984, I have many beautiful memories of my life. Well, a person can become a part of life even without ever meeting him or her, only through the emotions convey, mastery, interpretation and many other qualities, makes him stay in the memory forever. Such was Maradona for me when "I knew him for the first time" (although I had heard about his talent displayed at the World Youth Championship and then in the duel with Gentile at the 1982 World Cup or some sporadic news when he played for Barcelona), the day of the presentation in Serie "A", in "San Paulo", when he descends from the helicopter in the green field welcomed by 100,000 devout Neapolitans and for whom he will turn into an idol, singing in the choir "Oh mother, mother my heart is beating, because I saw Maradona and I am in love with him." Yes! I have seen too and lived with emotion Maradona time. As images of his mastery pass before my eyes, I remember an impossible free kick, executed only by champions such as Diego, as he humiliates Juventus in "San Paulo" on November 3, 1985, taking the top of standings and finally also the title of “Scudetto”. Another goal against Como from the middle of the field, another one and another… ..in almost every match in Serie "A", until I arrive with fragments of memories in the biggest match in the history of this championship, (my opinion) a clash of the Titans on May 1, 1988. Maradona vs Gulit, Napoli marching on the road to the title against AC Milan and the Dutch (Gulit and Van Basten) that were put in pursuit throughout the season. This was the decisive moment, a clash that would be broadcast on satellite TV in many different countries of the world for the importance that this match carries but for me as a resident of a communist country….in the inability to see it directly, for reasons that are already known, I was listening on the radio through the well-known commentator Enrico Ameri. Then later on I saw the 45 minutes replay on Rai Channel, with blocking transmission  on the screen that "did not take into account" the importance and the event of this match.
I have seen Maradona, I have been fortunate to see the world's greatest player in the consecration as such on the day he raises the World Cup on June 29, 1986, completely unique to Argentina with a modest lineup of players. But first, after he performed miracles in this edition, among other things, the goals against England, especially the first one, when he gets dizzy by dribbling  half of the team from the middle of the field, and the second one with "God's hand"! These are some moments, but part of my life as the most beautiful memories and of course memories of the whole world of football that today turned into mourning. Maradona is no more, but he will still be in everyone's memory, in every field, stadium or match where football is played, because he is the representative of this game. When we say Maradona, we mean Football and vice versa. This was for me Diego. A. Maradona, the greatest of all time!  

*Sport Vision / The Champions Hour | Nov. 25, 2020