Why Maradona is the greatest footballer

I posted about a low key yoga athlete who passed away suddenly at the age of 50.

Within a week, another sportsman, far more famous and supremely gifted died at the age of 60. Many can argue about his conduct (on and certainly off the pitch) but what he can do with the football, nearly no other humans on earth can. For that, in my book, he is the greatest footballer that has ever lived. 

The following obituary penned by Bobby Ghosh states the case well. It is one thing to be a brilliant player surrounded by other brilliant players. But Maradona made magic out of mediocre materials.

By 

Bobby Ghosh

, 

26 November 2020, 02:45 GMT+8

Soccer fans are fortunate to live in a time when two superstars are simultaneously making the claim to be the best player in the history of the sport — and more fortunate still that we can watch the contest between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo play out, week in and week out, live before a global audience of billions. Thanks to YouTube, I can watch high-quality videos of their most compelling performances, and of every goal they’ve ever scored.

When Diego Maradona was staking his claim to the title of best ever, most of the world could only get a quadrennial glimpse of his genius, when he turned out for Argentina in the ’82, ’86, ’90 and ‘94 World Cups. Growing up in India during that period, I never saw highlights of his performances for FC Barcelona or Napoli (a city where he’s still regarded as part deity, part royalty).

There are now some video highlights online that preserve a grainy record of him in his pomp — including THAT goal against England in the Azteca Stadium on June 22, 1986. But these only hint at what he was capable of. They don’t constitute sufficient supporting evidence to the argument that he was the best ever.

What makes it harder still is the even scarcer evidence for claimants of previous generations: Hungary’s Ferenc Puskas, Spain and Argentina’s Alfredo di Stefano, Brazil’s Pele, the Dutchman Johan Cruyff, Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, et al. That they played under different conditions and rules, and in different positions, makes the argument moot, anyway.

We can’t, then, know if Maradona was technically the best to have kicked a ball.

Nevertheless, I’m here to argue that he was the greatest of all time. And my case rests on the simple fact that he, more than all the other claimants named here, came closest to defying the dictum that soccer is a team sport.

For most of his career, Maradona played in teams that lacked any other world-beating players. Run your eye down the list of the Napoli squad with which he conquered Italian soccer in 1986-87, and there’s not a single other player who would make it to a Serie A hall of fame. He had a slightly better supporting cast in the Argentina sides that he took to two World Cup finals — winning it in ’86, and coming agonizingly close in ’90 — but nobody would argue that Jorge Valdano was to Maradona what, say, Jairzinho was to Pele in ’70.

It is one thing to be a brilliant player surrounded by other brilliant players; in this regard Messi and Ronaldo have been exceptionally fortunate with their club teams. But Maradona made magic out of mediocre materials.

What makes this even more remarkable is the weight of expectation he carried on his diminutive frame. When he signed for Napoli in 1984, the club had never won the Italian league, and yet its fans immediately began to dream of championship glory. The “pibe de oro,” or golden boy, was as much talisman as captain and player.

Other footballers — Messi among them — have since had to cope with comparable pressure, but modern superstars are surrounded by a scaffolding of public relations professionals and psychiatrists to help them. Maradona, lacking support off the field as he did on it, nonetheless delivered the “oro” for club and country over and over again.

Until he didn’t. It was probably inevitable that the burdens of his genius would eventually crush him, and they did so in spectacular fashion. But he withstood them long enough to cast in bronze — like the plaque commemorating THAT goal outside the Azteca Stadium — his claim to being the greatest of all time. 

RIP, Diego Armando Maradona, GOAT.

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Photographer: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images Europe

Yoga

 M introduced me to this. She's a passionate practitioner and in fact has even attended a teacher training course.

I could well comprehend the benefits. If I don't stretch before a workout, the pains (arising from tight muscles and tendons) are sure to afflict me. I saw Yoga as a well structured and extended stretching in its most fundamental form.

As one progresses, it is not just about stretching but also about strengthening especially the core muscles and in an a functional way. There were several sessions where my muscles felt the workout more from yoga then even the most strenuous gym sets.

M set me off in the direction but as we was away, she got me a few virtual teachers. First Boho beautiful whose workouts she was following and I tagged along. Boho was too advanced and she then introduced me to Lesley Fightmaster. I would say she was the one who "taught" me. 

There are three reasons why her lessons worked for me.

1. She had really good descriptions of what to do that even without looking at the screen, I could follow the various positions she was describing

2. She had a gentle soothing voice (well, they all have) but in her case, she also soothes by reminding us always that one doesn't have to be perfect and that was really heartening to here when I know I am twisted up wrongly

3. She had these most wonderful life quotes at the end of her session which somehow always spoke to me. I don't know how she finds these lines, always so apt. 

The reason I am writing about her is that she passed away suddenly and I thought of how she is a loss to the yoga community. In her own way, she has made the world a better place and just goes to show you don't need to be a world leader to do your part.

In the final video (recorded for thanksgiving week) just before her passing, it was about gratitude.

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

~Author Unknown

I am thankful M introduced me to her videos. May her soul rest in peace

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