Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Am Diego
My name is Diego•Armando•Maradona, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1960, and I am the fifth in my family.
When I was one year old and was baptized in the church, I hated the feeling of sacredness very much, and I kept struggling, but I was finally held down by two adults to complete the baptism, and then some people made a big fuss about it, saying that they wanted to "subdue" Maradona, and one or two people couldn't.
But I feel like that damn baptism gave me the breath of an angel, and twenty-five years later, the angel and the demon showed at the same time, and I scored two goals in that game, one that they called the best goal in the World Cup, which I didn't feel much about, but the other one I liked the most, because the fans called it the Hand of God.
When I was three years old, I got a soccer ball from my father, and the first time I chose to play it with my left foot, it was the first time the greatest left foot in the world touched the ball โ that's what people say, and I love it.
My talent for football is innate, when I was 11 years old, I was banned from playing at the age of 14 by the youth coach, not because I was too young, but because, if I played, I would definitely bully them, I loved watching kids who were years older than me hug and cry after I scored seven or eight goals in a game, maybe when I was younger, there was an evil in my blood.
First of all, I play as a defender, in fact, I like the most, and I fantasize about playing as a free centre-back to this day, this position is so spirited, looking at the whole situation from the back, bang - one kick to drive the ball into the distance, bang - another kick, the ball flies to the other side, the free center back is the real leader on the field.
But I'm not suitable, a free centre-back is going to waste most of my talent, including my speed, my balance and my possession, uh, that's what my mentor Francis told me.
I remember when I was nine years old, he once asked me very seriously: "Diego, are you really born in 60?" Maybe I scared the hell out of him.
The most memorable thing for me was the World Cup in England when I was six years old.
At that time, the Falklands were still a British colony, and I didn't have a good impression of the British, but if I hated them too much, I couldn't talk about it, but after that quarter-final, I hated the British, and I swore that one day I would make the English people regret it, and I would use football to teach them a hard lesson!
Here's the thing, in the quarter-finals we played England and we lost the game and I was sad at the time because the referee from West Germany was in England and I couldn't say anything because it was England home.
But what I couldn't accept was that when the players shook hands after the game, the head coach of the England team, Ramsey!
He went so far as to storm the stadium to stop the handshake between the players and say something very hurtful: "I can't let my players shake hands with the beast......"
Ramsey apologized afterwards under FIFA's condemnation, but this apology has no substantive meaning, if I apologize after I rape their queen, will they forgive me?!
I had always been anxious to grow up and play at a high level, and I joined the Argentine youth professional team at the age of 14 but was unable to play due to the league strike at the time.
My teammates and I had a 136-game winning streak in the youth team, and everyone was expecting me to do when I entered the professional team.
I don't know why, but I've always thought that the best guy is the one who kicks with his left foot.
At that time, it was popular to falsely report age, but most of the time older people were inserted into junior team competitions. It's just that in my case, it's the opposite, I'm small for big. Francis always kept me in the upper age group in case of emergency.
I was recognised twice during the game, once with the Athletic team, and I came on the pitch to win when I couldn't open the game, and the manager of the opposing team, when he learned that I was only 12 years old, said to Francis: "You have to be early on him, this is a football genius." โ
Another time against Boca Juniors, I played under a pseudonym, and when the manager of the opposing team learned that I was Maradona, he angrily walked up to Francis and said: "You use Maradona!" Forget it this time, don't let me hold it next time. But he continued: "You are lucky, this boy has a bright future." โ
Ten days before my 16th birthday, I finally played my first real professional game, against Cรณdobba, and although we didn't score at the time, I scored two goals a few days later, and that's when I felt my hands touch the sky for the first time.
When I was 17 years old, I was selected for the Argentine national team, but a year later, I was defeated at the World Cup on home soil, which was a bigger blow than the "drug test incident" in the '94 World Cup, both of which were unfair to me.
I can't forgive Menotti and will never forgive him, but that doesn't mean I hate him, because I personally believe that hatred and unforgiveness are two different things. Either way, Menotti has his rightful place in my heart, and it is Menotti who has tapped all my potential with his distinguished function.
The veteran Kempes led Argentina to victory on home soil, we lifted the Hercules Cup for the first time, and then I became good friends with Kempes, and he said to me: "Diego, if you were in '78, we would have won more easily." โ
At the World Junior Championships in Japan in '79, Menotti personally led us to the championship, which was the first major honour of my life.
In the '82 World Cup in Spain, we failed, but four years later, we lifted the Hercules Cup again, this time, with my own hands, and that World Cup also has a resounding name - Maradona's World Cup.
We lost to Germany in '90 and we beat them four years ago, but they snatched the title back four years later.
The years I can't forget were in Naples, when I was kicked out by Barcelona in 1984 and Napoli made an offer to me and I didn't even think about it, only to find out when I got there, I hadn't even heard of this place, how bad their team was?!
But I'm confident that three years later I won the first Serie A title for Napoli, in '89 I won the UEFA Cup, and before the World Cup in '90 I helped Napoli win Serie A again.
But my trip to Napoli was over, my agent Corrapo took a lot of money from me, and I had an irreconcilable conflict with the president Ferleno and the manager Bianchi, they only looked at how much money I took, but they didn't see how much money I made for Naples!
Drugs, stimulants, mafia, those words drive me crazy, it was a bad year.
I admit that I smoked ******, but I definitely didn't have anything to do with the mafia, I didn't dope in the game, it's a conspiracy, an absolute conspiracy!
On March 17, 91, I was found to have doped after my match with Barry, and at the same time the court charged me with the mafia, I was banned for fifteen months, and I left Naples like a dog.
This unfair verdict made me hate FIFA, but a year later, another FIFA practice made me, let me, to paraphrase a popular phrase now, I circle and fork Havelange for eighteen generations of your ancestors!
On January 11, 92, my best brother Juan, my best brother from River Plate, passed away, he was a very strong man, and he had been battling the disease.
For the sake of his widow and children, I decided to organize a charity competition, and I also participated.
I understand that I am in the ban phase, but this is not a FIFA tournament, it is a tournament for football players, and if I don't participate, the amount of money raised will be reduced. No matter how much it is, I'm going to do it.
But FIFA sent a fax after learning the news, which read: "For the peace of the families of the deceased players...... Maradona and other players registered with the Argentine Football Federation will be punished by FIFA for disputes over the holding of the tournament. โ
They actually mentioned "for the sake of the families of the deceased players", which is shameless!
Grondona (president of the Argentine Football Federation) also chilled me, first of all, he stated that there was no way to get Maradona on the field, and secondly, he was willing to pay a mere $50,000 to the families of the victims, so that the organizers would no longer cooperate with Maradona and could consider applying for the game after the ban was lifted.
His only attitude is: whoever plays with Maradona will have to pay a huge price!
On that day, 41 of us gathered together to discuss and we all talked about what had happened, and Montoya suddenly said: "Maradona, now you should be more determined than ever, you must play this game!" โ
I was irritated by the feelings of my friends, the organizers of the tournament were us, not the Argentine Football Federation, our referees were retired and not among the people who enforced the law for them, our football was there, our fans were there. "I'm on the field! Get out! โ
We are holding a tournament for our brothers, and I am sure that if Alain Vige and Blatter die, no one in Argentina will shed tears for them. I swear that as long as Grondona is president of the Argentine Football Federation, I will never return to the national team.
In the dressing room, we see many people with mixed expressions, or people who are afraid of FIFA punishment, we just want to tell people who should be the real masters in the world of football!
When we played, it was an earthquake, smoke was around, people were shouting, and the donations alone amounted to $1 million, plus advertising costs, totaling more than $2 million, all of which were dedicated to Juan's family and the football school named after him.
It wasn't just Boca Juniors fans in the stands, there were fans from various clubs, I was so excited, I had the image of Juan in my head from time to time, but I knew he could rest in peace, we won, we convinced the whole world of football players of our strength, we triumphed over the power and made the rich fearful.
FIFA, Havelange, Blatter, this is the first time I have declared war on you!
They were afraid of me because I was Diego•Maradona.
Revenge was not long in coming, and at the '94 World Cup, I tested positive for urine and I was once again exposed to this doping, but I was still wronged.
FIFA, do you think you can kick Maradona away, do you think that banning Maradona from the field will achieve your goal?
I was banned, it was my turn to play against Bulgaria, I didn't have the courage to watch the game, and a group of reporters didn't go to the game and stayed there to watch me.
Marcos (Argentina coach) has already told me that all efforts have not worked and that Maradona's name must be erased from the Argentine national team. I sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, facing a group of people who wanted to help me but had no choice, how pitiful!
The game started and I still couldn't help but stare at the TV, where there was my jersey, my flag, my fans, but now everything is gone. I didn't shout and I didn't move during the whole game, is this Maradona? I've been ruined by them once, and they're not enough, and they're going to keep drinking my blood!
Power cannot be reconciled with me, because power is filthy and built by drinking the blood of others. All I drink is something that can be bought in the regular American market!
After the match, Redondo came to me, his eyes were full of tears, and he said: "Diego, I looked for you everywhere, I looked for you everywhere, I looked for you everywhere on the field, but I couldn't find you......"
Maybe I ruined Fernando [Redondo], he's a top player, but from that day on, we've been fighting together, not on the field, but off the field.
Everything was full of doubts, and the doctors at the time were kept shut and today it was proven that when they did the re-examination, the test tube was open, which should have canceled the test results immediately, but they did nothing. It's never going to be over, it's never going to be done!
The Italian conspiracy was the same, because to this day there is still a man there who can't close his eyes all night, he knows how someone ordered him to murder Maradona, and he did it!
I am innocent, I must find all the information and evidence, even if I am 60 years old, I will kick open the door of FIFA and ask them for the truth.