For all his successes in football, most notably winning the 1986 World Cup with Argentina and his exploits with Serie A club Napoli, drug abuse and alcoholism proved Diego Maradona’s Achilles’ heel. Maradona lent colour to football, but he also brought a fair share of controversy to it.
The closest I came to seeing the late Maradona was on June 26, 2018 during the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
As is often the case with celebrities, Maradona’s fame preceded his arrival in Russia but when the man who shared the honour of being the footballer of the century with Pele took to the VIP box at St Petersburg Stadium, he treated fans to more of the moments that had characterised the final years of his life.
Maradona’s beloved Argentina, fighting to stay in the quadrennial competition, were playing Nigeria in their final match of Group D at St. Petersburg Stadium.
An out-of-sorts Argentina had boxed themselves into a tight corner in the group stage of the tournament, the Albiceleste drawing their first match of the tournament 1-1 against minnows Iceland and losing the subsequent match 3-0 to Croatia, the eventual losing finalists.
Argentina’s opponents Nigeria had lost their first match 2-0 to Croatia but fought back to win the second 2-0 against Iceland, raising the team’s hopes of reaching the last 16 stage.
Having collected only a point in two games, Argentina needed to defeat Nigeria to stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.
The stage was set for a high stakes match, but there was still another problem for two-time champions Argentina, one beyond their control.
Their qualification to the last 16 stage hinged on Croatia beating Iceland to restrict the tiny European island nation with a population of just 320,000 people to just one point, effectively sending them back home.
That Iceland had beaten Croatia 1-0 in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers made the Argentinians even more apprehensive. That Argentina had left it late to qualify for the 2018 World Cup months earlier did not help things.
Against that background, Argentina, with former coach Maradona now in the VIP box, made their case for the knockout stage.
Messi put Argentina ahead after 14 minutes for only his first goal of the tournament, and Victor Moses drew Nigeria level from the penalty box, making for a tense moments in the second half.
From the VIP box, cameras inside the stadium were directed at Maradona who celebrated Messi’s first goal of the tournament by putting both hands on his chest, raising his head to the heavens and opening his arms wide, as if in supplication.
Maradona is seen celebrating wildly as his body guard wraps his hands around the waist of the footballing legend.
The 1986 World Cup winner, who had been struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism, felt faint and was assisted to the backroom while struggling to walk on his own.
Marcos Rojo scored the winner for Argentina late in the second half, prompting wild celebrations from Messi and his team mates. Thanks in part to Iceland’s 2-1 loss to Croatia, Argentina qualified for the round of 16 stage, in a sense granting Maradona his wish.
Maradona, who died on November 25, was a gift to football fans. But he lived a reckless life. His well-documented struggles with drug abuse and alcoholism led to gradual health decline in the final phase of his life.
The most important lesson that current footballers should take from the 60 years of Maradona’s life is that the past has a way of catching up with the present. The other lesson is that life will not accord players many chances to correct their misdeeds as it did Maradona.
Athletes will ultimately pay for the choices they make. Despite his struggles with drugs and alcohol addiction, Maradona remains one of the finest footballers to have played the game. Fare thee well, legend of the game.
