What greater honour can a soccer player be bestowed with if he is remembered as one of the two greatest soccer players of all time? Yes, there is one… and that is to be remembered as the greatest soccer player ever.
Many people closely associated with the game do believe that Diego Armando Maradona is indeed a touch above the revered Pele. Legends don’t fade away easily and Pele is a legend who has endured the test of time. There are many fans of Pele, especially in Brazil, who’d give away their right leg willingly to prevent their demigod from slipping from the soccer throne.
Maradona’s fans, however, are too preoccupied with their task of dethroning Pele and making way for Maradona to occupy it.
It is difficult to say who is or was better because they played in different era against different oppositions. The game too has changed over the years with flair giving way to power soccer.
In Hyderabad I came across many soccer enthusiasts having difficulty in pronouncing the name ‘Maradona’ and ended up calling him, though unwittingly, ‘Maar do na’ (Finnish them off) and I thought how well that name suited Maradona, especially when Argentina was battling against a resurgent England in the 1986 World Cup.
Born on October 30, 1960 close to the bustling city of Argentina Buenos Aires, Maradona showed flashes of brilliance at a very tender age. Argentina’s selectors soon spotted his talent and they picked him for a friendly against Hungary at the age of 16. Maradona’s career had taken off and from that stage there was no looking back.
Maradona’s great skills with the ball can be witnessed in the innumerable matches that he played and won for Argentina. His skills were brilliant, and equally thrilling to the hordes of fans watching him play. He never looked as though he was running and puffing in the field, his was a ballet performance with the ball… so fluid, so graceful.
Success came to Maradona faster than he could handle it as he seemed to have the Midas touch, only in his case, whatever he kicked turned into gold.
Most soccer players, I have observed, come to the World Cup with king-size reputations only to be cut down to size as the tournament progresses. Maradona came to the 1986 Soccer World Cup as the Messiah of Argentinean football and kept growing in stature as his team was zeroing on to the final stages of the tournament. Needless to mention, he delivered one rivetting performance after another taking Argentina to glory and beyond.
The infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident in the high profile match against highly competent England broke the backbone of England’s resistance. Then, what followed next was a goal of sheer brilliance to seal the fate of England. Maradona picked the ball in his own half and cut through England’s otherwise efficient defence like a knife going through butter with unimaginable dribbling and body swerves to deposit the ball in a place which sounded the death knell of England. Thirteen years later an elite panel of soccer pundits chose this goal as the “best goal ever in the history of football.”
Many regard the first goal as cheating, but if that is so every soccer player worth his salt cheats. Unless the referee blows the whistle for foul no soccer player will even dream of stopping. So, why blame poor Maradona for it given that every other player in a similar situation would have done what he has done.
Maradona’s inspired leadership in the soccer field galvanised his team members to put in extraordinary performances that took his team past every hurdle culminating in a world cup win that will forever be remembered for all the wrong reasons… and the indomitable Maradona.
OOOO)))))(((((OOOO
For those who are curious about Maradona’s achievements, I reproduce below a list downloaded from the net:
Awards received by Maradona in his career:
1978: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Metropolitano.
1979: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Metropolitano.
1979: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Nacional.
1979: World Champion with Argentina in the Youth World Cup.
1979: ’’Olimpia de Oro’’ to the Best Argentine Footballer of the year.
1979: Chosen by FIFA as the Best Player of the year in South America.
1979: Receives the Gold Ball as the best player of the moment.
1980: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Metropolitano.
1980: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Nacional.
1980: Chosen by FIFA as the Best Player of the year in South America.
1981: Top Goalscorer of the Campeonato Nacional.
1981: Receives the Trofeo Gandulla as Best Footballer of the year.
1981: Champion of Argentina with Boca Juniors.
1983: Wins the Copa del Rey with Barcelona.
1985: Named Ambassador of the UNICEF.
1986: World Champion with Argentina.
1986: Wins his second ’’Olimpia de Oro’’ to the Best Argentine Footballer of the year.
1986: Named ’’Distinguished Citizen’’ by the City of Buenos Aires.
1986: Receives the Golden Shoe assigned by Adidas to the Best Footballer of the year.
1986: Gets the Golden Pen as Best Player in Europe.
1987: Italian Serie A Champion with Napoli.
1987: Wins the Italian Cup with Napoli.
1988: Top goalscorer of the Serie A with Napoli.
1989: Wins the UEFA Cup with Napoli.
1990: Italian Serie A Champion with Napoli.
1990: Receives the Premio Konex di Brillante for his sport skill.
1990: Second place in the World Cup.
1990: Named ’’Ambassador of Sport’’ by the President of Argentina.
1990: Wins the Supercoppa Italiana with Napoli.
1993: Awarded as Best Argentine Footballer of all time.
1993: Wins the Artemio Franchi Cup with Argentina.
1995: Receives the Golden Ball for his career.
1995: Awarded as ’’Master Inspirer of Dreams’’ by the University of Oxford.
1999: ’’Olimpia de Platino’’ as Best Footballer of the century.
1999: Receives from the AFA the award as best sportsman of the century in Argentina.
1999: His goal of 1986 against England is chosen as the best goal ever in the history of football.
2000: Elected ’’FIFA best football player of the century’’ in a gala ceremony in Rome after a worldwide poll on the internet.
OOOO)))))(((((OOOO
Maradona’s great performances spanning his career have made him a living legend while he was still playing the game. Alas, too much success brings with it psychological problems which could be very difficult to handle. Maradona succumbed to the pressures and stress of modern day soccer.
Maradona’s career started falling apart as he took to drugs, drinks, and womanising. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle his personal life as well as he could handle the soccer ball. There are many paternity cases against him filed in the court.
A leading authority on soccer has this to say, “It is a measure of Diego Maradona’s genius that the scandals which dogged his career will not stop him from being remembered as one of the two greatest footballers to grace the sport.” Obviously, the reference is to the other great footballer Pele. But, personally, I would like to put Maradona a notch above Pele in the list of all time greats.
Maradona was a ballet dancer in a soccer field of power players.
Mbfarookh.