"There goes (Diego Armando Maradona), the best there ever was in this game." - modified quote from The Natural
There really could only be one topic for this week's post.
Diego Maradona, considered by many (myself included) to be the greatest footballer to ever walk this planet, died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 60.
If you ever wanted to know Maradona's true impact, consider the following:
- Alberto Fernández, the president of Argentina, declared three days of national mourning after the legendary number 10's passing. Unsurprisingly, Maradona will also receive a state funeral
- FIFA postponed its annual awards which would have been held on December 17 as a show of respect for Maradona
- In Buenos Aires, electronic signs around the city which would normally have been used for public transport updates were modified to pay tribute to Maradona
- All over Naples, murals and other tributes were displayed on walls of buildings across the city.
These are but a small snapshot of what the kid from the slums grew up to mean to so many.
If you're still not convinced that Maradona is the greatest of all time, I'd like to bring up a few points.
Most of you probably remember his legendary 1986 World Cup campaign in which he put Argentina on his back and dragged them to a world title which almost no one could have expected. It is regarded by many as the greatest individual tournament performance of all time and was highlighted by his iconic quarterfinal performance against England. Maradona memorably gave Argentina the lead after controversially fisting the ball over Peter Shilton's head and into the net. The infraction, of course, went uncalled. Soon after, Maradona scored perhaps the greatest goal in World Cup history, torching England's defense with a blistering run before putting it in to make it 2-0 to the Albiceleste.
But with that being said: his 1990 World Cup campaign was arguably even better. Argentina were a much weaker team than they had been four years prior. Maradona carried a team which had no business making it to the final all the way to the showpiece match against West Germany. Somewhat ironically, Maradona was denied an even more incredible World Cup victory by a refereeing error: Roberto Sensini's tackle on Rudi Völler was incorrectly ruled as a foul, allowing Andreas Brehme to score the title-winning penalty for West Germany.
Although the record books say that Maradona was never a Ballon d'Or winner or the FIFA World Player of the Year, the Ballon d'Or was not open to non-European players until 1995, while the FIFA award did not exist until 1991.
Had Maradona been allowed to contend for the Ballon d'Or throughout his career, he would have probably won it in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, and 1991. He'd also have been, at the very least, in the top five every year from 1981 to 1992 and in the top three in most of those years.
That's not even all. Consider the fact that on many occasions, Maradona was denied the opportunity to play in what was then the European Cup because this was before countries could send more than one representative. Under the current rules, Maradona would've featured in the tournament in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, and 1990. The last two appearance would have seen Maradona's Napoli run headfirst into an AC Milan dynasty. However, who's to say that his Barcelona teams of 1983 and 1984 or his Napoli team of 1987 couldn't have been a contender for Europe's biggest club prize?
Such was the shadow Maradona cast over all his successors that many an Argentina number 10 between Maradona's retirement and the emergence of Lionel Messi wilted simply by wearing the iconic number. Ariel Ortega, Andres D'Alessandro, Juan Roman Riquelme - none were scrubs by any means, but it is almost a travesty that they all wore the 10 for Argentina in a major tournament.
It's almost impossible to believe, but somehow, in spite of his unquestioned brilliance on the football field, Maradona might very well actually be underrated. Never has there been a player who could carry a team as he did. Similarly, never has there ever been a player who forced opposing teams to craft game plans specifically to account for him to the extent that Maradona did.
Anyone who does not have Diego Maradona on, at the very least, their Mount Rushmore of footballers is flat-out wrong. For me as well as so many others, he is the greatest there has ever been and perhaps the greatest there will ever be.
I can't say anything else except RIP to the GOAT.
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