Anthony McIntyre recalls one of the greatest players ever to take to a soccer pitch.

 
"The truth is, I want the Pope to be more famous than Maradona. But I have an edge, which is that I played soccer pretty well - Diego Maradona. 

If not primus inter pares, he certainly cruises in the top flight, courtesy of a mercurial talent and an ability to turn a mediocre team into, if not a majestic side, one at least capable of delivering magnificent performances.

The first time I heard the enchanting name Diego Maradona it emitted from the lips of Denis Faul as he updated blanket prisoners on the weekly sports news prior to one of his masses in the H Block. Denis, a walking sports encyclopedia that continuously replenished itself with the latest gossip and news, enthused about this 17-year-old sensation, whom none of us had previously heard of.

In the summer I, not yet on the blanket, had in Cage 11 watched Argentina take the World Cup through the sublime efforts and panache of a Mario Kempes driven side. Their 2-1 win over France in the early stages, the finest game I ever witnessed. So, I thought I had seen the best of what the Argentinians had to offer. What could possibly have changed in a matter of months? It was not that such a prodigious talent had gone unnoticed in the top echelons of Argentinian soccer management, and had only come rapping on the door post-tournament.

National coach, César Luis Menotti who set up shop in his dug-out - no technical areas back then – with an ever growing pile of cigarette butts gathering at his feet, felt Maradona at such a tender age might not be able to handle the pressure. The gaunt Menotti, AKA  El Flaco (the Thin One), kept him out of the squad and thus starved the rest of us of a strange magic, to borrow from the ELO song. 

Four years later with the blanket protest and hunger strikes behind us, we were still non conforming prisoners, as official prison parlance had it.  Although wearing our own clothes we were still refusing to work or conform with those prison rules we found objectionable. Once out from behind the doors, we had forced a relaxation in an otherwise recalcitrant regime and were able to see a lot of World Cup action, including the final between West Germany and a rejuvenated Italy.

It was our first chance to watch Maradona who, after some reasonable but not scintillating performances, trudged off demoralised from a game where the opponents were - and remain - the most dazzling Brazilian side post-1970. The fiery Argentine had been shown a red card for basically kicking an opponent in the goolies.

1986, cometh the hour cometh the man. Maradona arrived in style, like no other since Pele. He replaced 1978 winner Daniel Passarella as team captain. Passarella had come down with Montezuma’s Revenge while in Mexico to compete in the competition and was replaced by the late Jose Luis Brown, scorer of the opening goal in the final. The tension between him and Maradona was reputed to to be fierce. To dip into the observation made by Tacitus on the relationship between Livia Drusilla and her son Tiberius, there was either a genuine harmony or a hatred well concealed, with plausibility on the side of the latter.  It has been speculated that Passarella represented an image of an older Argentina, authoritarian and disciplined whereas Maradona was of the new Argentina, more relaxed and democratic. In a sense he projected the vision of Menotti, the manager who had earlier overlooked him, and who had:

described the purpose of a footballer as “a privileged interpreter of the dreams and feelings of thousands of people” and wanted to instill into his ‘interpreters’ a left-wing ideological view of football where the focus was bringing joy to the masses by playing attractive, attacking football.

Team wise, the 78 side were more balanced with a less disproportionate distribution of acumen and were subsequently stronger as a result. But the 86 squad had in Maradona a star of such unique refulgence that it is hard to think of any other player in history who so singlehandedly determined the outcome of a World Cup tournament. Four goals of sheer genius in the quarter and semi-finals booked their place in the final and the rest is history. 

Although maligned by England players and fans for his hand of God goal in the quarters, my close friend, friend. Alfie Gallagher, made the astute observation: 

His goals against England in '86 were feats of staggering genius. The first encapsulates both his brilliance with the ball at his feet and the roguish cunning of barrio boy who learned his craft on the street.

Diego Maradona found favour in many quarters for his progressive stance and the causes he endorsed. As unafraid off the pitch as he was daring on it, he never followed in the footsteps of his continent's many tyrants. 

Again, there is that strain which is to be detected in Menotti 

There's a right-wing football and a left-wing football. Right-wing football wants to suggest that life is struggle. It demands sacrifices. We have to become of steel and win by any method ... obey and function, that's what those with power want from the players. That's how they create retards, useful idiots that go with the system.

Maradona retarded the ability of the opposition to get their game together and often made idiots out of those left in his wake as he dribbled past them on the field of dreams. The system he went with was one of flair, panache, élan, Right wing, left wing, he had wings that saw him soar above the rest.

 ⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Diego Maradona

Anthony McIntyre recalls one of the greatest players ever to take to a soccer pitch.

 
"The truth is, I want the Pope to be more famous than Maradona. But I have an edge, which is that I played soccer pretty well - Diego Maradona. 

If not primus inter pares, he certainly cruises in the top flight, courtesy of a mercurial talent and an ability to turn a mediocre team into, if not a majestic side, one at least capable of delivering magnificent performances.

The first time I heard the enchanting name Diego Maradona it emitted from the lips of Denis Faul as he updated blanket prisoners on the weekly sports news prior to one of his masses in the H Block. Denis, a walking sports encyclopedia that continuously replenished itself with the latest gossip and news, enthused about this 17-year-old sensation, whom none of us had previously heard of.

In the summer I, not yet on the blanket, had in Cage 11 watched Argentina take the World Cup through the sublime efforts and panache of a Mario Kempes driven side. Their 2-1 win over France in the early stages, the finest game I ever witnessed. So, I thought I had seen the best of what the Argentinians had to offer. What could possibly have changed in a matter of months? It was not that such a prodigious talent had gone unnoticed in the top echelons of Argentinian soccer management, and had only come rapping on the door post-tournament.

National coach, César Luis Menotti who set up shop in his dug-out - no technical areas back then – with an ever growing pile of cigarette butts gathering at his feet, felt Maradona at such a tender age might not be able to handle the pressure. The gaunt Menotti, AKA  El Flaco (the Thin One), kept him out of the squad and thus starved the rest of us of a strange magic, to borrow from the ELO song. 

Four years later with the blanket protest and hunger strikes behind us, we were still non conforming prisoners, as official prison parlance had it.  Although wearing our own clothes we were still refusing to work or conform with those prison rules we found objectionable. Once out from behind the doors, we had forced a relaxation in an otherwise recalcitrant regime and were able to see a lot of World Cup action, including the final between West Germany and a rejuvenated Italy.

It was our first chance to watch Maradona who, after some reasonable but not scintillating performances, trudged off demoralised from a game where the opponents were - and remain - the most dazzling Brazilian side post-1970. The fiery Argentine had been shown a red card for basically kicking an opponent in the goolies.

1986, cometh the hour cometh the man. Maradona arrived in style, like no other since Pele. He replaced 1978 winner Daniel Passarella as team captain. Passarella had come down with Montezuma’s Revenge while in Mexico to compete in the competition and was replaced by the late Jose Luis Brown, scorer of the opening goal in the final. The tension between him and Maradona was reputed to to be fierce. To dip into the observation made by Tacitus on the relationship between Livia Drusilla and her son Tiberius, there was either a genuine harmony or a hatred well concealed, with plausibility on the side of the latter.  It has been speculated that Passarella represented an image of an older Argentina, authoritarian and disciplined whereas Maradona was of the new Argentina, more relaxed and democratic. In a sense he projected the vision of Menotti, the manager who had earlier overlooked him, and who had:

described the purpose of a footballer as “a privileged interpreter of the dreams and feelings of thousands of people” and wanted to instill into his ‘interpreters’ a left-wing ideological view of football where the focus was bringing joy to the masses by playing attractive, attacking football.

Team wise, the 78 side were more balanced with a less disproportionate distribution of acumen and were subsequently stronger as a result. But the 86 squad had in Maradona a star of such unique refulgence that it is hard to think of any other player in history who so singlehandedly determined the outcome of a World Cup tournament. Four goals of sheer genius in the quarter and semi-finals booked their place in the final and the rest is history. 

Although maligned by England players and fans for his hand of God goal in the quarters, my close friend, friend. Alfie Gallagher, made the astute observation: 

His goals against England in '86 were feats of staggering genius. The first encapsulates both his brilliance with the ball at his feet and the roguish cunning of barrio boy who learned his craft on the street.

Diego Maradona found favour in many quarters for his progressive stance and the causes he endorsed. As unafraid off the pitch as he was daring on it, he never followed in the footsteps of his continent's many tyrants. 

Again, there is that strain which is to be detected in Menotti 

There's a right-wing football and a left-wing football. Right-wing football wants to suggest that life is struggle. It demands sacrifices. We have to become of steel and win by any method ... obey and function, that's what those with power want from the players. That's how they create retards, useful idiots that go with the system.

Maradona retarded the ability of the opposition to get their game together and often made idiots out of those left in his wake as he dribbled past them on the field of dreams. The system he went with was one of flair, panache, élan, Right wing, left wing, he had wings that saw him soar above the rest.

 ⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

7 comments:

  1. Is there anybody who loves football who doesn't love Maradonna? I was a kid in the eighties and everybody idolised him. My first football coach used to call me Maradonna, sadly it was because I was a midget with a curly black barnet that badly needed cut heehaw to do with my ability.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 86 was a great world cup to watch and a bit like 82 no one could rightly predict the outcome even England had a great chance but then they met a genius who go on to collect the highest honour in professional soccer. He was sold by Terry Venables from Barcelona to Napoli where he brought them from never having won Serie A to winning 2 of them, Argentina are rightly proud of their little maestro

    ReplyDelete
  3. A very elegaic tribute to Diego, Anthony.

    Can I be really cheeky and ask whose Denis the Menace's football/sporting preferences were?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sean Mallory comments

    Thee greatest footballer ever.....I watched him once being interviewed, I think on Saint and Greavsie, and he was training in Italy at Napoli and he never stopped tapping the ball which looked like a size bigger than a tennis ball and continued on with the interview as if the ball was a part of him.....the hand of God....very few mention his second...the goal of the century.....what a player

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  5. Lovely tribute,check the highlights of that game v England,the English players pulled and dragged him all day ,numerous fouls and overly zealous challenges yet he prevailed to deliver victory for Argentina and obviously the goal of the century. Outspoken critic of British occupation of the Las Malvinas and spoke of his admiration for Irish right to self determination. I Was truly saddened when he passed away . A football genius. Diego thank you for the memories. Scith a ligean

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great article, goes right to the soul of the player and the game itself.

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  7. I will never forget the emotions when I saw him in kolkata, India in 2008. For me diego maradona was one of the greatest football show man. I am not old enough to have watched his matches in real time But thaks god there is video archive and youtube old video I still can't get how he could to play such beautiful show. Beautiful and satysfying his every goal every shoot assist were inspired by love of his proffesion love of football sport. I think world won't have such great player so so long


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