I came to life on 1976. For people before me i agree that they may look at Pele as being the best. Cruyf could pass. Eusebio scored. Puskas and Di Stefano did it all. There were others. After 1976 there was only one name . Maradona . I enjoyed Van Basten; how he controled the power and still looked so fluid in all his actions. In school between Maths and Geometry, during those 15 minutes in wich we played 4x4 under the Nuns eyes there was only one person to look up to. Maradona. We'll score like him , i'll go through you like him, we celebrate like him. Football was Maradona and Maradona was football. This feeling never changed. I believe this sensation to be like that of a Mother and Son. He may not be perfect, he may make mistakes, he may hurt you ... But , in the end of the day he's the best you could ever had in your life.
I do not remenber where i was when someone told my brother was born. I do not remenber what i was doing when the planes hit the twin towers. I remenber vividly the minutes in and around "the GOAL" he scored against England on Mexico 86. Ths is how i recall it.
I was at a friends house in his swimming pool in a litle town outside Torres Novas. They were family friends cause my parents were there too. I wanted to see the game Argentina-England, but i lost a part because i was playing around in the swimming pool (i was 10). I remenber how i got out of the pool, got a towel, tried to dry myself and entered the living room to look at the television and saw Maradona receive a ball in the midfield. Then everything stopped .. for a moment that seemed to last a couple of eternities the tiny chubby man played with my senses and scored a goal. I didn't react in the first moments and then i screamed: "Daaaaaaad .. Maradona scored a goal!!!!!!"
I get perplexed when people compare other players to Maradona ..how can you ? don't you have eyes ? have you ever played soccer to say what you're saying ? Let Pele try to go to Goiás and win the Copa Libertadores with no Garrincha by his side. Let Messi go to Almeria and win the champions league with no Xavi, Iniesta and so on by his side. Let Eusebio go to Estoril and win it all without some of the best players ever in Benfica and Portugal. That's what Maradona did .. he went to Naples and took it to another level. He grabbed the Argentina team and won a world cup. Those were mediocre teams whose players aren't remenbered for his brilliance. They had Maradona tough. That was enough for a moment in time. For me , even Michael Jordan was the Maradona of Basketball. That was the standard to wich all players were to be compared .. and they all lost/loose miserably.
This feeling never changed. I believe this sensation to be like that of a Mother and Son. He may not be perfect, he may make mistakes, he may hurt you ... But , in the end of the day he's the best you could ever had in your life.
