When I was picking up mail from the mailbox in the communication room as usual in the morning, my phone suddenly vibrated. A friend in the football group posted a small screenshot with typos:

< p> Still hesitating with the letter in hand, the overwhelming news immediately confirmed that it was not false news.

Many people say that the 1986 World Cup was a one-man World Cup. To be precise, it was a World Cup for a god, and the god was Diego Maradona. He is still the only football god in the hearts of many fans.

This contradiction between a peerless genius and a rogue in the football world just celebrated his 60th birthday a few weeks ago on October 30, 2020 - before that, many people had doubted, Whether this complex man will survive to this day. In his life, he has reached the highest peak that countless people look up to, he has also fallen to the deepest valley, and experienced the darkest despair. He seemed unable to cope with the adulation that came with superstardom and god-like status, and at the same time seemed inseparable from it all.

To understand Diego Maradona, you must understand the enigmatic country of Argentina; this country needs people like Maradona, like the Messiah Lead it to greatness, to everything it thinks it deserves. You must also understand that this is a person whose life journey is full of paradoxes, making various mistakes and then correcting them again and again, just like one tragic and epic story about sinking and rebirth.

Which one is the real Maradona?

Is it the little boy named Diego, a urchin from the shantytown town of Fiorito in Buenos Aires who has been gifted since childhood and a son of the people?

It is still the god named Maradona, a myth, a great avenger, the god who carries the dreams and aspirations of the people and ultimately convinces them that Argentina is the best country in the world. Incarnation?

Perhaps, both.

In 1968, coach Francis Cornejo of the youth echelon of the Argentinos Juniors, known as the "Little Onions" came to the town of Fiorito. , to check the age on a child's ID. The first time he watched this kid try out, his first reaction was to be shocked, "He's too young, he can't be eight years old."

The child's mother produced Diego's birth certificate to confirm his age. Francis acted at that moment as if he had discovered a new continent. He found a gem to add to his team. After Diego joined in March 1969, this small team has been winning, setting a record of 136 consecutive unbeaten games.

As a boy, Maradona's father - "Chitoro" as his friends called him - drove a ferry to transport livestock from one village to another; Working in a chemical factory, he earned just enough to support his family in the shanty town. And his son's success means that he no longer needs to work. As the fifth of eight children in his family, Diego had already become the breadwinner of the family by the age of 15. He told his father that it was time to rest.

From an early age, Diego understood the importance of leadership. This kind of leadership is innate in him, just like gods don't need to learn, but mortals, no matter how good you are, can't learn it in a lifetime.

After rising to prominence, he moved to Boca Juniors. Much of this was done by Maradona himself, who was still a rather immature 20-year-old player at the time. The deal turned bizarre. What started as a straightforward acquisition for $10 million turned into a last-minute loan with six Boca players plus cash and an unclear check as collateral. Nothing about Maradona is simple and straightforward.

His next stop was Barcelona, ??where he never gave his best performances. During his two years there, he was sidelined for half of the time due to various injuries. A horrific tackle left him with a serious ankle injury. He then became the main offender in a brawl in front of the King of Spain in the Copa del Rey final, resulting in a five-month domestic ban that sealed his fate there. In fact, he was on the verge of bankruptcy, so a financially beneficial transfer became inevitable.

In 1984, Maradona signed with Napoli, where he began the peak of his playing career. Not only did he win the Serie A championship in the 1986-87 and 1989-90 seasons, he also won the Coppa Italia (1987), UEFA Cup (1989) and Italian Super Cup (1990). Maradona showed all his talents as a frontcourt player in Naples. He won two Serie A Golden Boots and left a large number of wonderful goals and countless wonderful dribbles. In 1991, after Maradona left the team, Naples' No. 10 jersey, which symbolized Maradona, was also retired.

Maradona is considered the greatest football player of the 20th century. He not only possesses the precise footwork of South American players and extremely skilled dribbling skills, but is characterized by playing almost exclusively with his left foot. , his overall view is also very good. Regardless of ball control, breakthroughs, fake moves, turns, shots, and free kicks, he is at the top level in the world. He is the absolute soul of any team and can significantly improve the overall strength of the team. , especially in the 1990 World Cup, when he single-handedly led the under-strength Argentina team to the final, narrowly losing to West Germany. In 1992, Maradona left Naples, where he created the peak of his life, and switched to the small Spanish club Sevilla. A year later, he returned to play for the Argentine club. In the 1994 World Cup, although Maradona participated in two matches and scored one goal, he later tested positive for the banned drug ephedrine and was suspended for 15 months. As a result, Argentina was eventually eliminated in the eighth round. Was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 1997, Maradona finally announced that he would hang up his boots, ending his brilliant playing career.

He has had everything a football player can imagine, and he has enjoyed all the glory and praise, but he always knows how suffocating it all is. Cocaine began to become his daily routine, giving him an even stronger high than before; he chose drugs, which kept him away from the cruel reality and no longer needed to prove that he was the best player in the world all the time. After hanging up his boots, Maradona began to gain weight. He was also troubled by rumors of drug addiction and substance abuse, and was criticized for his personal behavior and private life. A lackluster coaching career. But his playing career will always be talked about. As a future player, it is a great honor to be compared with Maradona. Maradona admitted that he did not regret his actions. He had always understood that life must be lived to the fullest. Because of this, now that he is 60 years old, he has accumulated much richer life experience than his age. He may feel that he is lucky to be alive now...

However, This good fortune ceased a few weeks after he turned sixty.

The magical and speechless 2020 is full of ups and downs. The suppressed epidemic, countless lives lost, the noisy US election and the magical stock market.

Kobe has left, Lao Ma has left, and leaving together are the windy years and the joyful youth. Middle-aged people have learned to be forbearing. When they receive a text message about the death of a friend, they will hold back tears and say "it's okay" to their wives. Learn to accept the departure of friends and contemporary idols one by one, learn to bear the weight of life, and turn into a trace of helplessness and a bitter smile in the eyes. The weekend golf course is the only time for indulgence. For three hours, you can ignore the bills that are due and don't think about possible layoffs in the company. After falling down, he got up and continued to brag to his teammates B: "Back then, I was running 100 meters in 11.5 seconds, and no one could catch me when I was dribbling the ball..."

Geniuses are short-lived, while mediocre people have to survive. Great people reach their peak day by day, while humble people waste their lives as time goes by. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Tonight, Maradona's goal of the century will be played hundreds of millions of times, and "Argentina Don't Cry for Me" will ring out in any corner of the earth. Just like the last line of "Sheng Ru Xia Hua" sings: "This is a world that cannot stay for too long." God doesn't die, he just returns to his place, back to his world.

For many, many years to come, as long as the sport of football still exists, there will always be his legend in the world~

2020/11/25

Parts are excerpted from the Internet and interviews with Maradona biographers~