Against FC Bayern: The day Diego Maradona enchanted Munich

Diego Maradona let FC Bayern fail in the semifinals of the Uefa Cup in 1989.

Holger Schmidtke was there as a ball boy in the Munich Olympic Stadium - and received a special gift from the superstar.

• Diego Maradona

  died

  on November 25th

  in Buenos Aires at the age of 60. 

• Perhaps the

  best footballer in history

  enchanted

   the spectators

  in the

  Munich Olympic Stadium in

  1989

  , which

  can be seen

  today in countless

  YouTube videos

  . 

• Holger Schmidtke

  was

  14 years

  old and a ball boy.

  He

  even got a present

  from “

  El Pibe de Oro

  ”, which he still keeps like a treasure. 

Munich

-

came

with

in the

of the

in the

 at

in

on. 

Each of the

will remember this day for

the

.

The Argentine world champion enchanted the entire

even before the game began

.

After warming up in the dressing room, the playmaker was greeted with a standing ovation. 

At that time,

was a junior player for

.

The then 14-year-old was allowed to watch the game on the sidelines as a ball boy.

Even more: Before

prepared in the cabin,

all his courage and asked for an autograph.

He got a lot more. 

By Holger Schmidtke

Diego Maradona: At the 1986 World Cup, he played his way into the heart of eleven-year-old Holger

In the

, at the age of eleven, I was glued to the television with my father. The German national team led by team boss

euphorized us and fought for the

in

.

Our team convinced with fight and passion, but no German national player delighted as much as this

.

This ball handling, these passes, these dribbles, these standards and these goals like against

or before

. 

At that time I played in the

of

under my first coach

.

When there was no World Cup game, we went to the

after school

and wanted to

copy

. 

Diego Maradona: Holger Schmidtke experienced "El Pibe de Oro" in 1989 as a ball boy in the Munich Olympic Stadium

My friends and I followed

.

He continued seamlessly from his

and won

the first ever championship

with

.

What a brilliant player, he was a free spirit, could do anything and brought the whole world behind him with his style of play.

A kicker from poor backgrounds wins the Scudetto with a poor club like SSC Napoli, unbelievable.

We thought, "Maradona can do anything."

My own path as a footballer led me

to

as a

.

A

was the

.

With the

youth team,

every

kicker was looking forward to

the

.

The young players were used as

.

What a cool experience when we saw the best footballers from the

close and got

 the balls for

our stars like

,

,

,

or

.

And it got even better.

Diego Maradona: 1989 against FC Bayern in the Olympic Stadium in Munich

The

held a very special experience in store for us ball boys.

The

met in the

of the

to

.

Even if the first leg was lost 2-0 and the elimination was imminent, the anticipation for the second leg on April

huge.

The

 is coming.

And I can be there up close. "

The

was

sold out

with

.

The floodlights shone before Muck's little mouse went quiet in the wide area.

Before all the other players from

and

,

came

out of the catacombs like a pop star.

He strolled leisurely past the countless photographers, the other ball boys and me onto the green lawn.

.

Anyone who thought that

would warm up like any normal footballer was taught better.

Diego Maradona: Standing ovations from the sold out Olympic Stadium in Munich

He started

in the

and the

thanked them with

.

. 

Then

one more

with the

before trotting back towards the changing room.

I was still standing by the stairs to the cabins and

.

He waved passionately to the audience, including the Bavarian. 

Diego Maradona gives ball boy the SSC Napoli club pin instead of an autograph

My eyes got bigger and bigger

, but then I took heart.

.

Since I couldn't speak his language, I asked him with hands and feet for an

.

I had no pen.

put on a radiant, understanding smile.

He showed me that I should wait, approached a Naples official and snatched an SSC club pin from him.

.

A feeling like Christmas.

The

for me only a minor matter.

The

caught up with me again

.

My beloved FCB was eliminated like the German team, but I was less sad than usual. Because we were eliminated against a team that had the world's best footballer in its ranks.

Rest in peace, you rousing soccer pop star.