What Makes Maradona a Legend

It says a lot that the reaction among Liverpool players to the visit of Diego Maradona briefly overshadowed the news that Rafael Benitez's contract talks are finally under way.

Yet not everyone seems to have welcomed the way the new Argentina manager was treated. Some pointed at his Hand of God goal against England although these were, in reality, a minority. What apparently angered the majority is the glorification of a man who has failed to recognise the paternity of a child who was clearly his as well as his well documented history of drug abuse.

This piece isn't aimed at telling those with such views that they are wrong for, clearly, they have a very valid argument.

What I do want to do, however, is try to put across what I appreciate about Maradona.

Naples is a city which in many aspects - cultural, economical and the way it is looked down upon by the rest of the country - is very similar to Liverpool in the early eighties.

Up till Maradona's arrival, the passion of the city for its football club was a cause for ridicule: a club that wanted and deserved to be big but could do little against the financial might of the Northern clubs. In almost a hundred years of existence, it had never won a league title.

Then Maradona came and suddenly greatness was bestowed upon Napoli Calcio.

For a few years, at least in football, Naples took on the mighty industrial centres of Turin and Milan with their sneering attitude and brought them to their knees.

That is what I like about Maradona. Of course, no one can condone what he did in his private life, but what I do know is that for a few years he made the people happy. And surely we can empathise with that.

Here are some of Maradona's most spectacular goals in a Napoli shirt:



If you want to see what Maradona meant to the fans, look here:



That refrain goes something like this:

Oh mamma mamma mamma
Oh mamma mamma mamma
sai,perchè,mi batte el corazon
ho visto MARADONA,ho visto MARADONA
eh mammà !!! Innamorato son!!

Which means

Oh mother, mother, mother
Oh mother, mother, mother
you know why my heart beats so much
I've seen Maradona, I've seen Maradona
and, mother, I've fallen in love

And if you want to read about Maradona's life, look no further than his autobiography El Diego.