Diego Maradona died: from the infinite caravan to an intimate and silent funeral in Bella Vista

Maximiliano Uria

11/27/2020 12:11 AM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 11/27/2020 12:11 AM

Diego Armando Maradona did great things in life and that is why he provoked, provokes and will provoke extreme passions.

It is explained in no other way than the infinite caravan that was assembled to follow the funeral procession from the Casa Rosada to the

where they buried him.

Thousands and thousands of people followed the car that carried Diego's remains for almost 40 kilometers and hundreds more waited in the vicinity of

to give him the final breath, the "thank you" and the "I love you", surely the two things that more were yelled into the air.

Or better: to heaven.

More than 30 hours had passed since the announcement of Maradona's death and people were still there, waiting to see him pass for the last time, even from a distance.

The coffin left the Casa Rosada at 5:42 p.m. and entered the private cemetery at 7:00 p.m. In the middle, the final caravan took place, perhaps synonymous with Diego's last great Olympic lap, that character who “has given so many joys”, as José, a 50-year-old resident of the place, said.

The images of the fans on the bridges and on the sides of the West Access and the Camino del Buen Ayre will remain for posterity to say goodbye to the world champion in Mexico 1986.

The arrival of the procession to the cemetery was chaotic, but there were no major incidents.

Unlike what happened with the wake, everything was well organized: individuals could not get to the front door.

About 800 security personnel were in charge of checking that there were no overflows.

The entry of the funeral car in the cemetery.

(Photo: Juano Tesone)

Bella Vista freaked out for a couple of hours.

The internal streets near the cemetery, most of them dirt and uneven, were filled with Diego fans.

Even some neighbors, quick to reflex, set up street food stalls.

But it was impossible to get to the door of the place and the fans had to settle for watching the hearse pass from afar.

Nobody cared: everyone was encouraged to leave a greeting at a distance.

Maradona's funeral was intimate and silent.

And it was, of all the moments that happened since his death was known, the first in peace.

His family and friends were always there.

The coffin was carried to its final dwelling by two of the idol's daughters, Dalma and Jana;

his brother Lalo;

his nephew Daniel López Maradona and Guillermo Coppola.

Among other members of his closest circle, he was also accompanied by Gianinna and Claudia Villafañe, who was seen hugging one of the Ten sisters.

Sergio Berni, Buenos Aires security minister, was also seen close to Verónica Ojeda, Diego's ex-partner.

The religious ceremony was brief.

There was applause, tears and hugs from the tent.

Some time before 9 pm everyone had left the place.

Maradona was already resting, as was his wish, along with his long-awaited parents, Doña Tota and Don Diego.

The green of the Jardin de Bella Vista cemetery was surprising.

The drones (15) of the different media showed the place from the air and it was inevitable to make a connection with a soccer field.

And it is not bad to think that Maradona will rest in a place - the places actually, because of the number of courts he played on - where he felt happiest.

The images of pain at Maradona's funeral.

(Photo: Juano Tesone)

"Now yes: Maradona died," said a man as he passed.

He said it as looking for an accomplice that he did not find.

He found no interlocutors because he left everyone who heard him thinking.

It was true: now Maradona was dead, buried, no longer giving away joys, memorable plays, beautiful goals, historical phrases, quarrels and controversies.

"Now the token is going to start falling," answered only the same man who had released the sentence.

Now attack the inevitable certainty that there will be no more Maradona in the here now.

It will, of course, remain a colossus in the collective unconscious, in the YouTube videos so that young people see and know what dreams can be fulfilled with a ball on their feet.

The two Maradona will still be alive, the footballer and the man.

One, the incomparable one, the one with the loose laces to symbolically tie the ball to his left foot, the one with the tongue sticking out to show everyone that soccer is a game and you have to have fun;

the other, the earthly one, the one who has dark places like any neighbor's son, like the policeman who guards the cemetery gate, like the relative who carries the coffin, like the father who carries his son on his shoulders and watches the hearse, like the journalist who writes the chronicle and like the millions who mourn his departure.

Maradona rests in peace.

But it is more alive than ever.