Maradona is better than Pele
.
At least for those who collect sports memorabilia and would be willing to do anything to have a 'memory' of their idol.
The numbers don't lie, just compare the almost 260 thousand euros that an anonymous buyer paid, in 2002, to buy the shirt worn by O Rei in the final of Mexico '70 at a Christie's auction for the almost 9 million euros with which today. , as announced by Sotheby's, the auction was won, also here by a buyer who preferred to remain anonymous, to have the shirt worn by the 'Pibe de Oro' in the game that definitively handed it over to the legend.
Yes, precisely that of the '86 World Cup, also in Mexico, that Argentina-England - quarter-final - in which the n.10 scored the goal with the help of the 'Mano de Dios' and the most beautiful in the history of football , after dribbling half a rival team.
Thus, at least in the field of collecting, the Argentine champion 'tore up' the Brazilian one, and in both cases the jersey at auction was made available by those who had received it directly from Pele or Maradona, Roberto Rosato in the first case, Steve Hodge in the second.
And each time the authenticity of the two shirts had been questioned (for example by Mario Zagallo and Dalma Maradona): they were really the ones worn by the Black Pearl at the final whistle of the 4-1 match against Italy and by 'Dieguito' in the second half of that unforgettable match?
But then films and meticulous (typically British) reliefs had shown that it was precisely those original shirts that were involved, unleashing the cravings of wealthy collectors.
So, Sotheby's says, that since 20 April last year with continuous raises for the goal of the 'Mano de Dios' there have been seven, and in the end, almost at the sprint, those who raised it up to 9 , 3 million dollars, about 8.8 million euros.
A figure that is the new spending record for a sports heirloom.
The previous record of $ 5.6 million (about € 5.3 million) was set in 2019, for a NY Yankees jersey worn by baseball phenomenon Babe Ruth.
'Only' one and a half million dollars, on the other hand, had been spent last year on a pair of Nike shoes used by Michael Jordan in a 1984 'rookie' game, the year he joined the NBA.
Almost pennies compared to those that, after paying the commission at Sotheby's, Hodge will collect because "this historic shirt is a tangible reminder of an important moment not only in the history of sport, but in the history of the twentieth century - explains Brahm Wachter, head of objects Sotheby's modern collectible, -. This is probably the most coveted football shirt ever auctioned, so it is fitting that it now holds the record for any item of its kind. "
And it's hard to blame him, just as it's impossible to forget Maradona and those two goals in Mexico.
