Diego Maradona: The God Of Naples

THE NAPOLI MIRACLE

What Maradona achieved with Napoli was truly incredible. Before his arrival, a team from the southern mainland had never won the Scudetto. Napoli themselves had narrowly avoided relegation in 1982-83 and 1983-84 – finishing a point above the drop zone just weeks before he signed.

“Napoli were, in football terms, closer to the second division than to a championship,” he recalled. “I knew I was going to suffer – a lot – but I also knew that the harder something is, the more I like it. The less faith they had in me or us, the angrier I was and the harder I played.”

It is wildly inaccurate to describe – as some have – Maradona’s Napoli as a one-man team. The 1987 champions contained Italy internationals such as Fernando De Napoli, Salvatore Bagni, Bruno Giordano and defensive legend Ciro Ferrara. The 1990 winners included Brazilian stars Alemao and Careca, as well as a young Gianfranco Zola.

However, it is clear that without Maradona, Napoli could not have come close to lifting the championship. At the time, Serie A was by far the strongest and richest league in the world. Every team, right down to the bottom of the league, boasted world-class stranieri (foreign players); Platini, Boniek and Laudrup at Juventus, Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard at AC Milan, Rummenigge, Matthaus, Brehme and Klinsmann at Inter, Falcao and Cerezo at Roma, Socrates and Passarella at Fiorentina, Elkjaer and Briegel at Verona, Zico at Udinese – the list goes on and on. Never before or since has one league monopolised so many of the game’s superstars all at one time.

In that context, Maradona inspiring a team who had only won two Coppe Italia in their 60-year history to two Scudetti, a UEFA Cup and another Italian Cup was miraculous.

And in doing so, he produced moments of genius that will live on forever; from the sensational 40-yard volleyed lob against Verona to the hat-trick against Lazio – which included an exquisite chip from an acute angle – and an Olympic goal direct from a corner. Then, you had the impudent one-step free-kick flick into the top corner to secure a first win over Juventus in 12 years (a win that caused five Napoli fans in the stadium to faint!) and the effortless dink over AC Milan goalkeeper Giovanni Galli to clinch a 3-0 thumping over the-then European champions.

Those who played with or against Maradona are in no doubt that he is the greatest footballer of all time. “The best opponent I ever played against,” extolled Paolo Maldini. “The things I could do with a football, he could do with an orange,” hailed Michel Platini. “There will never be anyone like Maradona again, not even if Messi wins three World Cups or scores a bicycle kick from midfield,” remarked Hector Enrique, who was Maradona’s team-mate when he almost single-handedly took Argentina to World Cup glory in Mexico in 1986.

Watching Maradona live was like having a mystical experience. His on-field exhibition before the 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich is the most enchanting pre-match warm-up in football history. For three minutes he captivated the entire Olympiastadion as he wheeled off an array of ball-juggling, tricks, flicks and dance moves to the sound of Opus’ 1985 hit Live is Life. The crowd was worked into a frenzy by the pint-sized phenomenon in untied Puma boots. Diego would lead Napoli to a 2-2 draw on the night (and a 4-2 aggregate win) to qualify for the UEFA Cup final where they would beat Stuttgart for their first and only ever European honour.