The Golden Boy

His penchant for self-promotion does get a bit tiring sometimes but one cannot simply dismiss the magnanimity and the legacy of his force within the football milieu. Yes, I'm talking about Diego Armando Maradona, THE golden boy of football.

I was reading this article in The Nation about him and his vociferous protest during the Bush's visit to Argentina recently, and I cannot help but to be curious of his personal transformation over the years. He still is, indeed, the greatest footballer that has ever stepped on the pitch, and yes, even better than the legendary Pele. His off-pitch persona though has been one marred with drug scandals and inane controversies, and to know Maradona, for most football fans, is to either love or hate him--the bête noire or the El Diego Dios.

In light of his recent activities, one can safely assume that he is staging a comeback--in essence to repair his damaged reputation and to present the side of him that usually eludes the kind of microscopic scrutiny and unfair vilifications that have been inveighed upon him over the years. It is the side of him that grew up poor and used his God-given talent to escape the crushing poverty. So, how is it different than any other rags-to-riches stories that can be found quite abundant in global sportsdom? Not much different, I guess, but in Maradona's defense, I believe that while the football elites have long abandoned and left him for dead (or wither away to relative obscurity), he has been and will always be the hero of the football subaltern.

He is the definitely symbol of aspiration for the kids kicking tin cans and crumpled-up newspaper in the barrios of Buenos Aires or Rio or anywhere else in the world for that matter. This is not an argument per se to elevate his status and street cred over the other previously poor football stars such as Pele or even Zinedine Zidane, whose childhood slum of Paris is now rocked with violent unrests and widespread riots. I'm simply saying that he is willing to take on controversial political issues such as globalization and labor standards, especially in international football, and to advocate the side of the downtrodden. As genial and good-natured Pele is, he'll never be the one to rock the boat, to bite the hands that feed him, so to speak.

In all honesty, I don't know if Maradona's goal is actually sincere or merely out to score personal point--pun intended--though my suspicion leans toward the former. Anyhow, he will always be one of my favorite footballers of all time, alongside Pele, of course.