BULA readers! Today I wanted to remember and reflect on one of the soccer greats of our time who passed away last week.
Just the mere mention of the name Maradona, it is automatically synonymous with the beautiful game of football across the globe.
As most of you would know, Diego Maradona was laid to rest last week at the age of 60.
He was indeed one of the greatest if not the greatest footballer to ever grace the game.
I was fortunate to meet this larger-than-life figure only once and that was just for 15 minutes in a dressing room full of friend’s, well-wishers and players at Tottenham Hotspur Football ground in London, UK I did my schooling in London and it was on a cold evening on May 1 1986 that I was fortunate enough to meet the tiny football magician, it was brief, but regardless of this it was exciting.
I just wished we had iphones in those days as a picture with this great legend would have been a memory to savor.
To be truthful there wasn’t even mobile phones available then let alone camera phones plus, believe it or not in those days to even think of taking photos you would have to plan an event and take a camera especially with you.
Back to the great man, and it was a testimonial match we were watching for the departure of one of Maradona’s close friends Ossie Ardiles who was playing for Tottenham Hotspur at the time and requested him to grace the field.
Maradona graciously flew across from an international match he just finished in Europe representing his home nation of Argentina, to play for his old international teammate.
There are so many side stories to tell during that hectic evening, but let’s stick to the greatness of this genius of a footballer.
I distinctly remember as do almost all the 30,000 spectators in attendance all eyes were on him as he entered the field to warm up.
There was great anticipation as he went to the center of the field and proceeded to kick the ball up as high as he could and waited as it came down, when it returned to earth, he caught it calmly on his foot and bang once again he kicked it high into the sky and again, he waited for it to come down.
He proceeded to do this a number of times and what was truly incredible was he hardly moved from his location in the center of the field to retrieve the ball once it came back to ground.
It was truly mind blowing to see such precision and even more so as Maradona thought nothing of it.
It was a marvelous piece of skill and done so effortlessly.
It was certainly a talking point for all the fans and even the players said there was no way they could ever think to replicate what he did.
The game even though it was a testimonial match just showed his skill level, reading of the game and anticipating where other players would be as he placed pass after pass with pinpoint accuracy.
It was indeed a marvel to watch. I don’t think I have ever seen a football player who has so much natural skill and certainly presence play the game of football.
I am just a fan and cannot profess to be a historian of football, but in my lifetime I didn’t get the chance to observe the great Pele play, and only managed to see Maradona in action when he hit his peak, but now watching back highlight reels on the internet you can make a strong case that Maradona and Pele are quite possibly the two greatest football players to ever grace the field.
In my humble opinion there are four truly great players who stand like the Soccer Gods of the game and Maradona is certainly one of them.
The other three are Pele, Ronaldo and Messi.
Between these four they have virtually broken every record there is to break and play the game so beautifully it looks like art in motion.
Maybe by playing the game so gracefully and effortlessly is what makes them so special in the hearts of so many.
Whichever of these four wonderfully talented soccer gods you cheer for, today let’s all set aside a small prayer for the one who has fallen Rest in peace Diego Armando Maradona – 30/10/60–25/11/20
- . Ajay Bhai Amrit is a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily shared by this newspaper.
