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Ballon d'or, nightclubs, Mireille Mathieu ... Maradona's crazy trip to Paris in 1995

2020-11-29T02:02:18.592Z


The Argentinian, who died Wednesday at the age of 60, had come to receive a Golden Ball of Honor in 1995. But he had above all benefited from the charms of life.


“I was exhausted when he left.

I don't know how he managed to keep up with this pace.

That was twenty-five years ago, but Alejandro Valente's eyelids still grow heavy when asked to tell this story.

These three days of madness where he tried to follow Diego Maradona, his excesses, his sudden and unpredictable desires through the streets and nightclubs of Paris.

What brings El Pibe de Oro to the French capital in this month of January 1995?

A special prize that the editorial staff of France Football, where Valente works, must give to the Argentinian, who died on Wednesday at the age of 60.

The newspaper specializing in the round ball has planned to award a Golden Ball of honor to the 1986 world champion. A way of paying homage to a player deprived of the distinction by his nationality.

But not just for the sake of saluting the Argentine's career.

“In the media, it was a big blow, remembers Patrick Lafayette, then deputy editor of France Football.

It had caused internal debates, because of his suspension for doping at the 1994 World Cup. But he remained an exceptional player who would have won four or five Golden Balls if the rules had been different

(Editor's note: before 1995, only European players could win the Golden Ball).

"

"I followed him to the bathroom to protect him from autograph hunters"

Controversial or not, Diego Maradona sets foot in France after spending the end of year celebrations in Cuba.

The playmaker doesn't arrive alone, as he travels with his wife Claudia, his daughters Dalma and Gianinna, his stepmother, the Real Madrid star of the 50s, Alfredo Di Stefano, and his wife, as well as his then and former agent, Daniel Bolotnicoff and Guillermo Coppola.

In all, nearly fifteen people, spread over several suites of the luxurious Intercontinental hotel.

To drive him everywhere in Paris, Diego Maradona relies on Didier Vuillin.

Driver for the L'Equipe group, which includes France Football, he was renamed “Pironi” by the footballer.

"It was a French name

(Editor's note: a car pilot who died in 1987)

that he knew and it was easier to pronounce in Spanish than my first name", explains the person concerned.

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Before going to receive her reward, Maradona has every intention of going to discover Paris.

Not the museums.

But rather Disneyland, privatized for the occasion.

And the night world.

Flanked by his relatives, he invites himself to Crazy Horse Paris where he takes the stage next to the dancers.

“He was smart, flirting with them a bit,” says Lafayette.

The Argentinian gets drunk, takes pictures with fans and wants to enjoy the Parisian nights.

"It is not early in the morning, but the evening is clearly its time," said Alejandro Valente.

"Pironi" serves as an alibi in front of his wife, in a dialogue where Maradona makes him understand that he is expected quickly for a date.

Diego Maradona warming up before a friendly match between FC Barcelona and PSG.

One of the rare times he has walked the lawn of the Parc des Princes./AFP/Joël Robine  

In truth, the Argentinian wants to go and enjoy the Bains Douches, the capital's famous nightclub.

“With him, it was madness,” says his driver.

I followed him to the bathroom to protect him from autograph hunters.

“Out of sight, Diego Maradona consumes cocaine there, a drug that has consumed him all his life.

Then go back to enjoy the evening.

One night, he gives his driver leave at around 3 o'clock.

Probably for sleeping.

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On January 3, the former Naples player is expected at the headquarters of France Football to receive his trophy.

The press conference is at 3 p.m.

But Diego Maradona is late.

Exhausted by his nocturnal excesses, the star sleeps in.

"We had to go pull him out of bed, everyone was waiting for him there", prefers to laugh today Patrick Lafayette.

Charged with going to get him out of his quarters, Valente remembers seeing El Pibe de Oro come out of his room "fresh as a roach."

He just had to take the time to emerge ”.

Surrounded by his daughters and his wife, Maradona receives his reward, then talks to the press about his project to create a world union of footballers.

That same evening, his mind clouded, he dropped his Golden Ball and broke it during the meal at the San Francisco, a restaurant next to the Mirabeau Bridge.

To impress the gallery, Diego tries to juggle the ball two to three detached from its base.

“I quickly took the trophy to Mellerio to have it repaired,” says Didier Vuillin.

Mireille Mathieu refrigerated in the stands of the Parc des Princes

Able to give 10,000 francs, or around 1,500 euros today, to his driver to take his family to McDonald's, Maradona is offered the opportunity to meet two local celebrities.

His choice fell on Gérard Depardieu and Mireille Mathieu.

The actor being selected for a shoot, we bring in the interpreter of "Angry Paris" for the evening.

Six years earlier, the singer had already crossed paths with the Argentinian for a report broadcast on the “Champs-Elysées” program.

Mireille Mathieu first met Diego Maradona in 1989./Facebook/Mireille Mathieu  

If a dinner at Castel is a time evoked, Diego Maradona decides to take the whole troop to the Parc des Princes, where the sixteenth-final of the Coupe de la Ligue between PSG and Auxerre is being played in polar cold.

"Mireille Mathieu was frozen," remembers a manager at the time.

If Paris wins (1-0), Maradona spends part of the meeting chatting with the Burgundian president, Gérard Bourgoin.

Like him, the latter knows Fidel Castro.

And after exchanging their memories of the Cuban dictator, the Argentinean decides it's time to go.

Quick stop at the bakery

In the middle of the meeting, he comes to smack the wind to Mireille Mathieu.

“He tells her that he has to leave, thanks her for coming and leaves,” says Alejandro Valente.

Goodbye the Parc des Princes, return to the Intercontinental where Eric Cantona awaits him.

The Manchester United star comes to talk about the players' union project in front of the cameras of France 2. The meeting, developed by the journalist of the public channel Didier Roustan without the knowledge of France Football, tense the journalists of the specialized title.

VIDEO.

Funeral of Maradona: a huge crowd accompanies the national idol

The time has come to leave Paris.

On the way to the airport, Diego Maradona makes a point of stopping in a bakery on avenue du Maine, in Paris.

The boss recognizes him, brings up her husband and the apprentices.

A crowd forms.

“I told him that it was complicated for him to stop like that, because of course we recognized him, remembers Didier Vuillin.

It was tiring to follow him.

But I want to say one thing: he has always been very nice to me.

He never treated me like a stooge.

"

The Argentinian does not care, he made his hook in a French bakery as he wanted.

After three intense days, he and his clan leave the capital.

Invoice for the stay?

More than half a million francs.

116,000 euros constant, calculated France Football in its October issue devoted to Maradona.

The price of a genius.

And of its excesses.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-11-29

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