Diego Maradona, 1960-2020
Buenos Aires, 2014
November 2020
The death of Diego Maradona this week has shaken the football world. As I write, his body lies in state at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires. While his lifestyle choices and drug addiction perhaps made his death at 60 years of age less than surprising, the loss of a global sporting icon still comes as a resounding shock. Football’s triumvirate of twentieth-century greats Pelé, Cruyff, and Maradona – born in 1940, 1947, and 1960 respectively – has now lost two of its pillars, Cruyff having succumbed to lung cancer in 2016.
The life and times of Maradona, and particularly the reaction to his passing, have reminded us in two distinct ways of the reasons we wanted to establish Engrossed in Football in the first place. On the negative side, the myopic insularity of a section of the British press, with its jibes about the “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and England, is emblematic of outdated attitudes in football coverage that we aim to resist. On a more positive note, other outlets in the UK and around the world have reacted with eloquent and inspirational writing of the highest standard, alongside intelligent and evocative photo editing.
The good, the bad, and the ugly: the British press reacts to Maradona’s death
One thing is not up for debate – in death, as in life, Maradona has made everyone sit up and take note. The irony of those petty, hypocritical sneers at the cheating involved in the first of those two unforgettable goals in Mexico City is that for many who hold Maradona close to their hearts, it was the bold impudence of that moment which sanctified his legend. As the iconic Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa has said this week, “the loss of an idol affects the most excluded and defenceless in society more because they are the ones who most need to believe that it is possible to triumph.” This rings true in Buenos Aires, Naples, and countless other places around the world where people feel represented by Maradona. We would do well to consider those people as we reflect on the career of El Pibe de Oro, the Golden Boy.
Words: A M Gross