Maradona at the 60th, telling the Pibe de Oro

A few days ago, the world of football lost one of its most legendary and controversial figures: Diego Armando Maradona. Events of this kind lead to the flourishing of television specials and pages of newspapers that recall the great sports feats of the athlete, but in the case of the Argentine 10, the competitive figure has always had to clash with a private experience that is always over the top, beyond the limits of ordinary people. But on the other hand, Maradona was not just any man, for better or for worse. To better appreciate the two faces of this sportsman on his genres, one must go beyond the rhetoric of the moment of mourning, looking with a sincere eye at the man inside the football boots. As it was done with Maradona at the 60th, a book published by Guida Editori, written jointly on the occasion of the sixtieth birthday of the legendary footballer.





Destiny is mocking, and what was intended to be a celebratory gesture for a sporting myth, turns out to be also one of the most sincere and honest memories of a complex figure, released a few days before the tragic news that shook the world of football. Maradona at the 60th, realized thanks to the commitment of the editorial staff of La Repubblica - Naples led by Giovanni Marino, is a portrait of a man who received a divine gift, making magic with a ball on his feet, but who found in the success that his curse ensued.

Maradona at the 60th, story of a football legend

Through the contribution of various personalities, such as the anthropologist Marino Niola, the former mayor of Naples Antonio Bassolino or the rector of University of Naples Matteo Lortio, we do not limit ourselves to telling the life of Diego Armando Maradona, but the deep bond between a man and one of the most fascinating and emotional cities in Italy is revealed. Even those unfamiliar with football know how a unique symbiosis was born between Maradona and Napoli, between the driver of a football team and its fans. On the other hand, as Antonio Corbo recalls, at the news of his purchase by Napoli, Maradona shared his enthusiasm with the Italian journalists:

"I leave Barcelona only to come to Naples. Naples feels football as I do, if you are here, I feel even closer, I'm living a dream "

Corbo tells the long negotiation that led Maradona from the Catalan capital to the city that made him the myth that today the world of football is crying. His enthusiasm for him, the desire to be able to wear the Napoli shirt and at the same time respect for his previous jersey: in Corbo's memory the traits of the heroic Maradona are evident who for the Neapolitans is the real Diego, the only Diego . And it could not be otherwise, in the eyes of a people who saw in this Argentine boy a part of their soul, of their history.

The personality of Maradona, overwhelming on the pitch, has become the redemption of a city who was finally able to see his own moral revenge in sporting successes. It was inevitable that an affectionate people like the Neapolitan one would adopt Maradona as a brother, a son, and Diego, as he was now for everyone, has abundantly repaid this love. Paying a very high price, and not because he played in Naples instead of Turin or Florence or Milan, but because that boy who grew up in poverty found himself managing something bigger than him, perhaps too much. Where the champion was invincible, the man who came out of the locker room at the end of the game was the exact opposite.

Giovanni Marino knows this well, who in his contribution to Maradona at the 60th (The dark side), reconstructs one of the less noble sides of the figure of the Pibe de Oro. The judicial events of Maradona are certainly not new, they have been the meal for the tabloid press for years, but in dealing with these topics, we have often forgotten to understand how Maradona went from idol of crowds to criminal, tax evader or Camorra . In his Il lato oscuro, Marino offers a timely and honest insight into the legal case of Maradona, without moralizing or easy judgments, but lets emerge the emotional experience of a man unable to manage everything that happened to him, this incredible success.

And it is an important element, because those who have had anything to do with Maradona have understood it. In his contribution to Maradona in the 60th, Antonio Tricomi reports a comment by Marco Risi, director who made a biopic about the player:

“What impressed me about Maradona's life has always been the dark area of he. So my film is about forty percent of his moments of joy and sixty percent of the tunnel his life entered at some point. He is a strong and fragile man at the same time, it is difficult for anyone to touch absolute greatness and then return to normal. He saved himself from drugs when his daughters told him: we need you ”

But in addition to the dark side, Maradona was able to show a vitality and passion that could not leave Neapolitans indifferent. Maradona at the 60th contains memories of personalities who still today feel a deep bond with the legendary blue 10, capable of thrilling on the pitch and making Neapolitan hearts beat a thousand.

The man behind the number 10

A sensation that is also brought to the page in another format: the comic. The city of Diego, based on the story of Giovanni Marino, is a portrait of the unique relationship that linked Diego Armando Maradona to the Neapolitans, an immortal affection made beautifully by the drawings of Lorenzo Ruggiero and by the colors of Massimo Rocca.

Per the Neapolitans, Maradona became a symbol of Naples, they celebrated its triumphs and protected and supported him in his dark moments, but in any case he remained a son of that Naples that gave him so much, being reciprocated by a sporting passion that is become history, as evidenced by a rich and exciting photographic archive that traces the history between Maradona and Naples.

Maradona's only defect at 60 ° is that it is difficult to find outside Campania, a real sin considered how in this volume there is one of the most authentic declarations of love of a city towards one of its most loved symbols.