God of football for some, just God for others.
This is what Diego Armando Maradona was and will eternally be, the genius of the round ball and widely controversial figure who died Wednesday, November 25 at the age of 60.
To read also: Robert Redeker: "Maradona was the opposite of a star, it was a myth"
It is precisely this image outside the lawns that forges a little more the legend of "Pibe de Oro", allowing him to push his aura beyond the borders of the round ball.
Because if he has revolutionized his sport and inspired a good number of players - without them ever touching his level - Diego is a figure at the same time social, political and cultural.
Maradona è megl 'e Pelé
- Emilio Campassi (1984)
Arrived in 1984 in Naples from FC Barcelona, Maradona easily conquered the tifosi azzurri thanks to his swaying dribbles and flawless control of the ball.
On the day of his official presentation at the San Paolo stadium, 80,000 of them paid 3000 lire (the equivalent of 1.5 euros today) to welcome him.
If he won the scudetto against Michel Platini's Juventus only two years later, the Argentinian was already king of the city of Partenopea when he arrived.
So much so that the singer Emilio Campassi dedicated a hymn to him using a popular expression:
Maradona è megl 'e Pelé
, "Maradona is better than Pelé".
The song was recorded even before the contract between the player and the Neapolitan club was formalized.
The record also features a B side titled
Il tango di Maradona
.
Life is life
- Opus (1989)
April 19, 1989, Napoli face Bayern in Munich in a semi-final second leg of the UEFA Cup.
Winners 2-0 in Naples, the Azzurri hung the draw 2-2 that night and then lifted the trophy with a cumulative score of 5-4 against Stuttgart in the final.
If in Munich, the qualification of Napoli passes twice through the feet of the Brazilian striker Careca, it is during the warm-up that Maradona provides the show on the air of
Life is Life
.
Camera focused on him, the Argentinian claps his hands, sways and begins to juggle to the rhythm of the music.
Right foot, left foot, head, shoulder, he tames a ball that never takes off far from his body.
All with the laces undone.
La mano de dios
- Rodrigo (2000)
Three years after his retirement, Maradona is the subject of a new song.
A tribute desired by the Argentinian singer Rodrigo, who through
La mano de dios
tells the life of the champion and of the man, not hesitating to compare it to Christ.
He certainly recalls his sporting exploits, the joy procured and the glory brought to an entire people, but also his flaws, as when he mentions this
“white woman with a mysterious taste and forbidden pleasure”
that fame brought him.
Rodrigo also takes up the songs to the glory of his idol.
The end of the story and as beautiful as it is tragic.
One day the singer performs opposite the ex-footballer, who approves with great pleasure.
A few weeks after their meeting, Rodrigo died in a traffic accident in Buenos Aires at the age of 27.
Years later, Kusturica will take again the images of Maradona singing
La Mano de dios
in his documentary.
La vida tombola
- Manu Chao (2007)
In the middle of preparing a documentary on "Pibe de oro", the Serbian director Emir Kusturica called on Manu Chao whom he wanted to film singing
Santa Maradona
, a song by his group La Mano Negra released in 1994. But the artist of Spanish origin does not hear it that way.
“I found the exercise a bit easy.
I was uncompromising on this.
I wanted to perform a song from the Radiolina,
Mala Fama
, bad reputation, it suits him well in Diego ”
, he explained to
JDD
in 2007. It was during a stay in Naples near the Argentinian that
La vida was
born
raffle
.
“Spending two days with him inspired me.
I wrote it in two hours.
I thought to myself:
"Everyone criticizes him, but it can't be easy being Diego. If I were in his shoes, how would I react?"
Hence the words:
"If I were Diego, I might live like him"
",
then specified Manu Chao.
Maradona y Pelé
- Thegiornalisti (2019)
Despite a somewhat tarnished image by scandals, Maradona is a source of intergenerational inspiration. It is not Tommaso Paradiso, leader of the group Thegiornalisti, now separated, who will claim the opposite.
“I was always missing something to finish this song. I absolutely wanted to add a touch that speaks volumes, absolutely mine and romantic: Robert de Niro, the star actor of this life, Maradona and Pelé, the devil and the holy water of the most beautiful game in the world ”
, he told
361 Magazine
. For his refrain, he will then use the popular expression “Maradona è megl 'e Pelé”.