Diego Maradona: The Rebel Who Created Dynasties Is Greater Than Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo

Diego Maradona’s genius was that he was simultaneously the greatest player in the world and a scruffy underdog.

He thrived in the role of the street urchin or ‘El Pibe’ who outshone the privileged elite in the world’s favorite sport, the diminutive David running rings around soccer’s Goliaths.

It was also what made his legend so unique, unlike Pele, Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo he wasn’t someone who shone as the best player in the world’s greatest team, he was the catalyst for an unfancied sides accent to the summit.   

Not that he triumphed alone, soccer is a team sport and Maradona did have some exceptional supporting acts throughout his career.

But never has a single-player proven to be the instrumental force in creating his fresh soccer dynasties; an individual with the ability to pull teams up by the bootstraps and propel them to greatness.

His legend as the king of the underdogs was cemented during a 12-month period from the summer of 1986 to the following year. When he won the World Cup with Argentina and Serie A with Napoli.

“He won the 1986 World Cup for Argentina more or less on his own. The [soccer] he played and the goals he scored in that tournament were unbelievable,” said Manchester United legend Bryan Robson, an opponent in that tournament, in a statement reacting to Maradona’s death.

“He went past five players to score against England in the quarter-final and then did exactly the same against Belgium in the semi-final.”

Robson’s claim is backed up by statistics; in seven games in 1986, he directly contributed to two thirds (10) of Argentina’s 14 goals, scoring five himself.

Players before and after Maradona had influential World Cup performances for victorious sides, Pele and Zinedine Zidane both capped excellent tournaments with braces in the finals in 1958 and 1998.  

But no-one has exerted the influence across a whole competition that Maradona did in 86’ neither has an individual player dominated a World Cup’s critical moments to such an extent.

He scored or assisted in all but one of the games and hit braces in both the quarter and semi-finals, then in the final, it was his pass that created the winning goal.

For one player of 22 to repeatedly make the difference in the biggest competition in soccer is a feat unlikely to ever be repeated.

The remarkable goals Robson describes are even more impressive because he scored them whilst opponents tried to kick, elbow and haul him to the floor; levels of aggression that would have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo running for the dressing room.

An excellent analysis by tactical expert Michael Cox of his 86’ performance against England points out that, judged by today’s standards, several English players would have been sent-off more than once.

The so-called ‘Hand of God’ goal he scored in that game came after numerous elbows to the face, two-footed lunges and off-the-ball thuggery.

The fixation with that goal and the depiction of Maradona as an anti-hero for it by many sections of the world’s media, while ignoring the overwhelming evidence of cheating from England, only adds to the narrative of the street kid getting one over on the establishment.    

It is a story made stronger by what he achieved in Italy with Napoli.  

Napoli and Maradona

Maradona signing for Napoli is almost impossible to comprehend by today’s standards, this was an unfashionable club that had only ever won two Italian cups buying one of the world’s best-known players.

In the 1983-84 season, prior to Maradona’s arrival, Napoli finished one point clear of the relegation zone, having finished two clear the year before.

“I knew I was going to suffer – a lot – but I also knew that the harder something is, the more I like it. The less faith they had in me or us, the angrier I was and the harder I played,” said Maradona.

“Napoli were, in [soccer] terms, closer to the second division than to a championship.”

Nevertheless, Maradona promised to deliver a Scudetto to the south of Italy when he arrived.

The scale of this challenge was all the greater because at the time Serie A was also the best league in the world.

Italian teams contested five of the 10 European Cup finals in the 1980s and the national team was crowned world champions in 1982.

Practically every top-class player in that decade played in Serie A at some stage; from Michel Platini to Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

All but one of the Balon D’Ors between 1982 and 1990 were won by Italian-based players.

These superstars played for teams who knew how to win, clubs like AC Milan, Juventus and Inter who had histories of success on both national and European stages.

Maradona was the catalyst in changing that, he transformed Napoli from a side who had appropriated the nickname ‘the Donkeys’ or ‘I Ciucci’ to a club that won in Europe.

It took him three years to do it, but in the 1986-87 season he delivered on his promise and Napoli were league champions.

This was the start of the most golden period of the club’s history with a spike in league table finishes divided by a pretty sizable marker; before and after Maradona.

In club soccer, it’s even rarer to find a single-player being the spark for such a rise.

The arrival of Johan Cruyff at Barcelona in 1973 was instrumental in securing the first La Liga title in 14 years and Eric Cantona helped Manchester United win the English league after a quarter of a century, but both players were helping superpowers regain their status, not creating new dynasties.

Maradona had to make Napoli believe it could win because the club never had before.

As club captain he led from the front; he was the top scorer in five of his six full seasons and played almost every game in his first three years.

By the time he departed, Napoli had tripled the number of trophies it had won including its only two league championships and European title; the UEFA cup. Maradona’s seven-year spell remains the most glorious in its history.

For a city which itself often feels it is treated as the poor relative of the prosperous northern Italian cities these achievements, in the sport which is a national obsession, felt like getting one over the elite.

That was exactly how Maradona liked it.