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發表於 2005-11-24 12:41:16
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I am the resurrection
Steve Wilson
Even for someone who has transcended simple mortality to become a god-like figure in his homeland and beyond, returning from the dead is still some achievement. But where the life of Diego Armando Maradona is concerned, perhaps we should have long given up on being surprised and amazed.
Hulking around a grotesquely obese body, ravaged by the effects of years of cocaine addiction, Maradona flirted with death a number of times before his now ex-wife Claudia Villafana had a local court commit the World Cup winner and football icon to a psychiatric hospital last year. Twice doctors genuinely feared the worse as his health spiralled out of control; twice Maradona fought back to beat the odds. It is a constant theme of a colourful and controversial life.
'I was addicted to cocaine,' he candidly admits. 'I was killing myself. I was playing football without sleeping properly; I was just being cleaned out.'
Claiming now to be clean for a year, an operation to staple his stomach has seen Maradona dramatically slim down and return to the world stage once more. In August he launched his very own chat show, La Noche del 10 (the night of the ten) - named in honour of his international shirt number - where the only man who could legitimately challenge him for the title of greatest ever player, Pele, was his first guest.
Fidel Castro, with whom Maradona shares staunch political beliefs and who accepted him with open arms to Cuba at the height, or depth, of his problems, was another guest, proving the draw Maradona still commands.
An appearance on the Italian version of 'Strictly come dancing', 'Dancing with the Stars' (cut short after questions were asked in parliament about state television paying him a reputed £3 million when outstanding tax from his time with Napoli totalled closer to £30 million) confirmed his return to good health.
The resurrection, though, can not be considered complete until a return to the top end of the game he illuminated with such dazzling style and bravura is assured. With that in mind, the ever populist Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine football association, invited Maradona to take up a role of his choosing within the national team set up. Likening himself to a groom stood helplessly at the alter waiting for his bride, Grondona's invitation has yet to be accepted, but many feel it is only a matter of time.
Claiming he is keen to avoid stepping on anyone's toes, he pragmatically says: 'The coach of Argentina is [Jose] Pekerman; he owns everything.' Though he confesses that 'sometime in the future I would like to be the owner alone.'
He will be attending the finals in Germany, but in a media capacity only. 'After that, depending upon Peckerman's opinions,' he continues, 'I will have a conversation with him about how I can help the team.'
Speaking at the launch of Aspire, a sports Academy in Doha, Qatar - a multi-million pound complex so far rmoved from his humble upbringing in the barrios of Buenos Aires, where he had simply 'a ball and an open space and played just for fun', it may as well be on the moon - a fit, even sprightly Maradona is able now to look back over his recent troubles with some sanguine perspective.
'Everyone assumes that winning the World Cup must be the best thing to ever happen in my life,' he says. 'But that personal glory closed my eyes and I couldn't realise about the real important things in life. The best thing I have ever experienced is to watch my daughters [Dalma and Giannina] grow. I would love to go back in time and watch them grow all over again.'
Undoubtedly his family has now returned to the central role of his life that he feels it deserves and blames, in part, the media spotlight under which he has lived all his adult life for creating an image of him that has not always tallied with the truth.
'The media really only emphasised my drug addiction,' he protests. 'They wish to somehow kill you and sink you. But all they managed to do was publicise drugs. Nobody sees things as they are. What they want to do is sell a sports paper. They are killing Maradona and killing the image.
Famously, Maradona once chased a pack of journalists off his property by firing an air-rifle at them; an incident for which he was served with a two-year suspended jail sentence.
'To defend my family,' he says, 'and I've always said this: I'm Bin Laden. If that's what it takes I really have no limits. I have no problem saying this: to defend my family I'm really the fiercest human on earth. So if somebody attacks my family he will have a hard time with me. I did that on that occasion and I would repeat it without any qualms again.'
Full of jokes and mischief, this latest incarnation of the player who ripped apart the English defence with what has been voted the greatest goal in World Cup history and near single handedly won the competition for Argentina in Mexico in 1986, however, still retains the passion - the bronca - that drove him to such heights.
'I am still fighting,' he says. 'Fighting to make the players the owners of the game and not the money men, the politicians. I am closer in spirit to Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Beckham and Raul than Pele, Beckenbauer and Platini; especially Platini.'
Of the current crop of players he rates Ronaldinho as the best but sidestepped the question that has occupied football fans across the globe for decades.
'Who is the best player of all time? My mother says that it is me,' he reveals, 'and you should always believe what your mother tells you.'
High praise was also reserved for England and Manchester United tyro Wayne Rooney, whose stature and ability to turn a game single handedly has draw comparisons with the great man.
'Rooney is a great player,' he says. 'He is very powerful and his technique is very good. He has all the characteristics that can help his country to the World Cup title. But he is very young and so still requires leadership.'
Rooney was devastating in England's recent friendly win over Argentina but Maradona feels too much should not be read into that result.
'Argentina has a good chance next year but still need to improve many aspects of their game,' he suggests. 'England won but history can be different next time. The chances of both Argentina and England are about the same. It was useful as a reference but it will mean nothing if they meet again in Germany.'
Maradona's popularity in his homeland has been undiminished by his battle with drug abuse and well documented indiscretions throughout his time with Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli - where he inspired the unfashionable southerners to two scudetto - and Sevilla.
So, following the example of Liberia's George Weah, does a career in politics await?
'No, please no,' he snaps. 'It is really hard to be a politician in Argentina, taking things from the pockets of the people. It would be like using the charm earned by scoring goals against England and Sweden just to have some votes from the people. I couldn't take advantage of that.'
Whatever comes next for Maradona history tells us we should discount no possibility. Though, for now, at least there is some calm in a life that has oscillated violently between heaven and hell.
'I am happy as I am now,' he says. 'Happier than before because I get up every morning and see my daughters - I realise now that they are the most important things in my life.'
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發表於 2005-11-21 18:11:51
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