No city In the whole world loves a single football player quite like Napoli and their son, Diego Armando Maradona. In the world of football, there are very few cities with only one major football club and Naples is rare in that regard. Their love for the man who single handedly brought Napoli from the gutter to the football map is unparalleled.
On his arrival at Napoli, he had the fans caught on to him immediately. Seventy-five thousand people had turned up at the Stadio San Paolo just to watch him be unveiled and paraded around the ground. Dozens of Diego decoys had to be used to keep the media and frenzied fans guessing – and indulge in some flicks and tricks.
Even though his first season with the club wasn’t worth remembering, El Pibe de Oro stuck on and the second season began with his magic. Naples leapt from the 8th position to the 3rd and it was after that season that Maradona showed his class at the FIFA World Cup as well. After conquering the World, it was time for the People of Naples.
By the end of the 1986/87 season, he had won them their first Scudetto- with 10 goals in the tournament. Even if not the goals, it was largely about the joy that came with watching him. After doing the double with the Coppa Italia, their joy knew no bounds.
Now, we just can’t discuss the football being played, but what it meant. Naples has been looked down for long and suffered constant territorial discrimination from their countrymen and women alike. With that on their mind, celebrations lasted for months with a lot of Presidential ballot papers getting wasted because ‘Diego Maradona’ was written on them. It is also said a major part of the children born during that time was named Diego!
In 1989, he claimed continental success for his beloved adopted home with a Uefa Cup (Europa League now) triumph, following that up with another Scudetto (their most recent to date) and Supercoppa Italiana.
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As a matter of love for their boy, countless songs were composed and many more murals painted around the city as locals displayed their artistic flair, while local places wear named in his honour. Even today, a stroll through one of the city’s many winding, narrow streets would show all manner of Maradona merchandise and he didn’t mind one bit for the excessive love he had. Fanatics went so far as to make murals for Diego around the city with vials keeping his tears and hair.
One of the biggest dilemma fans faced when Diego made a risky comment before Argentina’s World Cup match against Italy, “Neapolitans are being asked to be Italians for one night but the rest of the 364 days of the year, they’ll be called Terrone [a derogatory term for a southern Italian],” he had said. Ultimately some Italians did cheer for him. Mostly it was a very difficult thing to decide.
Not even the bitterness of an exit full of controversy over a failed drugs test, a fallout with the club president and links to the local mafia could diminish his standing in the city. After all, he was a part of the locals, a scugnizzo Napoletano or a cheeky rascal.
“But none of that matters because we have Maradona.”
