Maradona`s Story 4

"He was pretended by Barcelona / River Plate wanted him too / Maradona belongs to Boca / because a chicken he is not!" But dollars (or pesetas in this case) were stronger, and to keep him in the team was a kind of utopia. Of course, he would stay forever in their hearts, for this is worthless.But Diego left at last, his destiny being Spain. Firstly, to play in World Cup ‘82 and secondly, to stay in one of the wealthiest football clubs of the world: Barcelona Football Club. It was not simple for him. They did not make it simple indeed.Apart from Catalan being the official language of that beautiful Spanish region called Catlunya, outside the stadium… everyone spoke the same dialect. Inside the field, Diego found out that for the great majority of his team partners, running was more important than playing. More rage, less talent. And although the rest could not learn what he knew since he was born, he sensed that he should incorporate what everyone considered a virtue- "Put everything inside the field", according to the ironic definition of César Luis Menotti- in order to transmit some of his intact magic.It was of no help the presence of his first manager, the German Udo Lattek. This man was more worried about the players to carry huge medicine balls than playing with the real ones -football ones- in the matches. Nevertheless, he succeeded. He again lighted up the spark of a fantastic and positive discussion: many people say that what Maradona made with a ball -the real football- in Barcelona, could never be repeated. For example, that marvelous goal against the Real Madrid, forever lasting: with a dribble he managed to crack the opposing defense, that was pressing in the midfield; he ran and ran with the ball stuck to his left foot, till he faced the goalkeeper, who looked for him far from the goal line; with another dribble he did not let the goalkeeper touch them, nor him nor the ball; he therefore headed towards the empty goal, his foot and the ball being friends forever. When he was about to reach the goal line, and the posts made shadows over him, he looked through one of the eyes he had on his neck, just when Juan José, a long haired, heavily bearded defender of the Real Madrid was decided to terminate with all the parts involved in that relationship. Then, the magic: he made a sudden stop, took his foot… and his ball out of reach for the rival and let him pass by, like a torero with a bull. Poor Juan José he crashed against the post; and great Diego finally pushed the ball towards the goal.No man on earth could stop such a football player, but a terrible illness would. Hepatitis caught him by surprise, just when he had been showing off his magic for about three months.He played for the first time on September 4th, 1982, being defeated by Valencia, at Mestalla Stadium, by 2-1. He had played 13 games and had conquered 6 goals when he had to keep absolute rest. He returned to the fields three months later, on March 12th, against the Betis. The team manager had changed, as well as his possibilities to have dreams: Menotti and the League were waiting with open arms. They could not go for all, but they got something as a reward: the mostly desired King’s Cup.It was just a matter of starting all over again, for there was no one who could break such a strong determination.Yes, there was one. And it had name and surname: Andoni Goikoetxea, the executioner of the best left foot in football history. Many people thought that his career had come to an end on that September 24th of 1983, while some thought that it was going to take a long time to see him again inside a football field. Both were wrong, as his prompt return in just 106 days can be considered as the last miracle that took place in Spain.One thing was for sure: to keep a good relationship with president Joseph Luis Núñez, who pretended more starring than he should, much more than divine help was needed. And that had no possible solution. At the end of season, in the middle of a royal battle that took place during the final match of the King’s Cup, against archrival Athletic Bilbao, on May 5th of 1984 in Madrid, everything reached to an end.