Just read it there myself. Tragic news. Probably the greatest player in my lifetime. That film from a few years ago is a must watch, especially when it talks about his time in Napoli.
Ah, the old cheat is dead (& they would have beaten England without cheating, they were a much better team than us & he was quite brilliant). 60 is probably about right when you think of the unhealthy life he led after he finished playing (drugs, booze & obesity).
Ah, the old cheat is dead (& they would have beaten England without cheating, they were a much better team than us & he was quite brilliant). 60 is probably about right when you think of the unhealthy life he led after he finished playing (drugs, booze & obesity).
Watched that 2019 documentary last night. I don't follow sports, I never watch games, but I am fascinated by the world around it, and how high the stakes can become. Truly a story of extremes. To go from such poverty, to the absolute dream achievement of winning the Italian league with an out-and-out underdog side, while also winning the world cup for your country, to then being chewed up and spat out, and utterly broken by the weight of it all. His life encapsulates how crazy our world can be.
Diego Maradona was without doubt one of the all time great soccer players and remained a prominent figure long after his active career was over. I think my first true memories of Maradona go back the the World Cup in 1982, so he was a prominent figure for most of my life. May he rest in peace.
Maradona was undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest footballers, and Argentina was ROBBED in that 1990 final; that’s the kind of result which turns Americans off of “soccer.”
That handball against England was bullsh!t. As for his “Goal of the Century”, make a tackle, England!
Like many we hold in high regard, Maradona was an execrable human being, especially with his public support of dictators Chavez and Maduro (see also: Sean Penn, Jamie Foxx).
Ah, the old cheat is dead (& they would have beaten England without cheating, they were a much better team than us & he was quite brilliant). 60 is probably about right when you think of the unhealthy life he led after he finished playing (drugs, booze & obesity).
True, that. Sports criticism is not for the faint of heart.
Unfortunately, many sports fanatics are irretrievably tribal and cannot see their own side’s failings. Oh, they’ll point the blame, but never at their beloved players or team, unless it’s a newly-signed player they deem the scapegoat.
Attention UK members. Channel Four is showing the 2019 doc, Diego Maradona, at 9.30pm this evening. Should be interesting.
...& ITV4 are showing the 2016 documentary programme The Hand of God:30 Years On (which looks back at the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between England & Argentina) today at 5.30pm.
Like many we hold in high regard, Maradona was an execrable human being, especially with his public support of dictators Chavez and Maduro (see also: Sean Penn, Jamie Foxx).
That isn't quite precise. He was "two persons" -- the humble and genuine "Diego" and the outrovert Deity "Maradona" that he created for himself and that partied with mafia and hung out with dictators. Kapadia's documentary goes into this, and it's well worth watching.
In other words, Diego Maradona “contain(ed)s multitudes”?
Wasn’t Kun Agüero Maradona’s son-in-law? Can you imagine the criticisms Kun must have gotten every week? I can only picture what it was like in 2010 when Diego was Kun’s manager for Argentina.
I’m aware of this phenomenon. Like those biopics of history’s nasties (Nixon, J.Edgar Hoover, Che Guevara) and how those films’ protagonists are marketed as “complicated” figures.
In the case of Maradona, it was more a psychological strategy he created in order to cope with the God-like adulations he received from fans; i.e. to create this 'persona' that could take all that, while he himself -- i.e. "Diego" -- could operate normally in private family surroundings.
