Diego Maradona died on November 25th
The best footballer of his generation, some say the best-ever, was 60
SENT ON AN errand, or packed off to school, Diego Maradona didn’t walk. He practised keepie-uppies, instep to thigh to back-heel to head, with anything roughly round he could find. Scrumpled paper would do, or an orange, or a ball of rags. Tac-tac-tac, on and on and on. Then he hopped on his right foot, especially up the steps of the railway bridge, while his left foot tried out skills. If no one was wanting him he would head for the waste ground of Villa Fiorito, one of the worst shanty-towns in Buenos Aires, but home to him, to have kickabouts with friends until night fell, or later.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “A boy and a ball”
Obituary December 5th 2020
From the December 5th 2020 edition
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