Which it did and which we all knew that it would.
The way that he lives his life and with all the drama that always surrounds it, the latest episode in his very public soap opera is with the exit from the Argentina national team job.
He lives with his heart on his sleeve and none of us would want it any other way.
The figure that we once loved to hate we now have a soft spot for, the media darling that the media wish they could cover every single day.
Whatever happened, even if there wasn’t the back-biting you couldn’t see him hanging around anyway.
Diego gets bored easily. He goes into these “relationships” like it’s a torrid affair and then when he’s found out… Well you couldn’t imagine it any other way. It wouldn’t be Maradona if there weren’t accusations, bitter recriminations and yes… a tear in the eye.
I was almost tempted to name this post Don’t cry for me Argentina but in fact the Argentinian public didn’t. They reviled him as a player, but not as the coach. Better for everybody now that the AFA (Argentinian Football Association) has extracted this distraction.
So then to future and what next for El Diego ? Has to be club management of course. But which chairman is that crazy/suicidal enough to even risk a dramatic and roller coaster ride through a single season before the inevitable emotional press conference ?
Form a line over there please…
Some music to accompany these musings… and with some foresight, but they like us knew it would be inevitable that he would be in the news either very soon or very often, the Corrigan Brothers – with Shay Healy added this to YouTube:
– Link to video
From Boca Juniors
To Napoli
It was Diego
They came to see.
Soon he became,
A superstar
Until he went
A bit too far
That old cocaine
It wrecked his head
So he quit the blow
And he ate instead
He got so fat
We all thought that he
Was heading for
Eternity
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
The pint sized wizard
Argen ten ian
Has been to hell
But he’s back again
He got in shape
Cleaned up his act
You should see the babes
That this man attracts
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a gonner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a gonner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
He’s a comeback King
Like the great Ali
Diego says
Don’t mess with me
I beat the booze
And I beat the coke
They sing my name
Like I’m the Pope
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
BUT MOST OF ALL
WE WONT FORGET
ONE SPECIAL GOAL
FLYING TO THE NET
HE SAYS FROM HEAVEN
HE GOT THE NØD
AND HE BANGED IT IN
WITH THE HAND OF GOD
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
oh oh oh Diego
they said you were a goner
oh oh oh Diego
Diego maradona
I would keep composing a few more tunes about him chaps. You know that there’ll be more headlines.
I’ve got a ‘soft spot’ for Maradona. It’s a chemical toilet I pooed into at Camp Bestival in Dorset last week. Once a cheater, always a trumped-up little shti who’s brought the game into disrepute on one-too-many occasions. Whilst his fellow countrymen may well regard him highly, I just see him as an irritating boil on the bum of all things bad about football.