Has your life changed, Maradona, since your debut in the first division?
Well yes, my life has changed because now there are interviews, its’ all a bit different.
Honestly, when I saw him run onto the pitch my husband and I started crying.
What do you think about those who say you are Pelé’s successor?
Now, I simply want to be Maradona.
I don’t want to be the successor, nor the second Pelé.
I simply want to be Maradona.
I’m more interested in glory than money.
I will continue playing for Boca because I know that Boca needs me.
Good luck, and I see you are very well wrapped-up. Is this new?
No, the thing is I needed something cosy so I brought this.
I think the national team is everything for a player.
There is nothing more important.
Maradona really is a great player.
He has quality, he has everything but he isn’t psychologically prepared yet to take on so much responsibility.
The contract of Diego Armando Maradona with FC Barcelona is without doubt the most expensive in the history of world football.
The damage to Maradona’s ankle is significant: a fracture and some torn ligaments.
My desire to play football again makes me happy and makes me feel good and think about my comeback.
Are you surprised by the statements by your team’s President about the nightlife of Diego Armando Maradona?
I don’t care about that.
No matter what they say I’ll go out as much as I like.
Barcelona Football Club wants to state that it has no intention to transfer Diego Armando Maradona.
The President of Napoli, Corrado Ferlaino, is in Barcelona today.
His intention is to bring Diego Armando Maradona to play in Italy next season.
Here is what Naples looked like after it was revealed that Diego Maradona is going to play in the local team next season.
Naples is in the midst of a financial crisis with huge debts.
The poorest city in Italy, and maybe one of the poorest in Europe therefore buys the most expensive player in the world.
What do you expect from the city of Naples?
Well, I expect peace the peace I didn’t have in Barcelona.
But above all, respect.
When you’re on the pitch life goes away.
Problems go away.
Everything goes away.
Gentlemen, settle down please. Settle down.
I’m warning you; if you come any closer, I’ll cancel the press conference.
Diego! Diego!
First question?
I would like to know if Maradona knows what the Camorra is?
And if he knows that the Camorra’s money is everywhere here even in football?
A second please: this question will be answered by the Napoli President Mr Corrado Ferlaino.
This question is highly offensive.
I am truly mortified that a journalist would ask such questions.
It’s so insulting that I won’t answer it.
Get out!
I’m asking you to leave!
Get out!
Right now! Immediately!
As Napoli’s President, I expel you from this room.
Naples shouldn’t be hurt by this kind of ignorance.
We made enormous sacrifices for this signing and we don’t want questions we are offended by ignorant statements that anything that happens here has to do with the Camorra!
Naples works and it has a good work ethic.
Criminals are a minority and there’s a serious police force ready to intervene in these matters. Thank you.
Good evening, Neapolitans!
I went to Naples, knowing that Barcelona had been a bad experience for me.
A disaster.
I played two seasons with them and I couldn’t finish either one because of illness and my ankle injury.
And I was left with no money.
I didn’t know Naples I didn’t know Italy but there wasn’t another team that would buy me.
I asked for a house and I got a flat.
I asked for a Ferrari and got a Fiat.
Everything was downgraded.
Hello, Maradona. Thank you for being here, very kind.
What I want to know is: are you willing to be insulted by your opponents to keep your Neapolitan friends happy?
Yes, well, Bertoni can translate!
It doesn’t surprise me, what’s said about Maradona in the newspapers.
Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s false.
I also think it’s fine for them to insult me otherwise it would all be too easy, it would just be compliments and life is not like that.
Did you understand?
Yes, we understood.
Maradona! Still Maradona versus Briegel
Maradona and Briegel.
Still Maradona, a long run
But Briegel! Look how good he is.
No! Maradona steals it back! Briegel appeals for a foul.
And Maradona, with a cross but no Napoli player acts on it.
How do you feel about your debut?
No problem.
No problem?
But next Sunday you get your revenge?
Yes, every Sunday is a rematch.
I think that Napoli has some potential.
We haven’t had the last word yet but we need to improve a lot a lot, because I don’t think that we can compete like this.
Italian football was played at a different rhythm and the football was rougher.
Had to adapt and learn to play at a different speed.
I sped up my timing in order to get into play.
If I went one way abandoning my technique, so that I could run faster I would’ve been useless.
And if I went top-speed, with my technique surely my technique wouldn’t have work.
I had to find a balance which wasn’t easy.
Maradona sprints forward he takes the ball on his chest Maradona is applauded by the whole stadium!
No, Maradona didn’t do it. God did it.
Because today we played terribly and I think that, with five minutes to go God did it.
Diego’s football was a football that no one else could play.
He’s not tall and he’s not a particularly good jumper.
He’s a player who’s never had a physical advantage his entire life.
But it’s clear that, for Diego, no muscle mattered more than the brain which allowed him to do everything better than everyone else.
Football is the game of deceit.
You feint going over there then go in the opposite direction and your opponent goes the other way.
The Championship is over: Napoli finishes in 8th position.
What does Diego feel inside?
It’s an incredible feeling, incredible inside on the inside I felt that the people of Naples love me and this I like.
The year before we had nearly been relegated.
Then Diego arrived and the Neapolitans gave him all they had because he came here to win.
There is enough space for all of us to have a photo, but one at a time!
For Diego: hip hip! Hooray!!!
That’s when I realised that the Neapolitans didn’t live for themselves nor for their children, nor for anything else.
All they cared about was how Napoli would play each Sunday.
Per minute your pulse is going down from 200 to 140.
At the beginning it was almost two minutes for you to recover.
Fernando Signorini.
A complete master, a genius.
Fernando not only taught me how to train but also how to train my mind.
Anything we don’t get through today, we can do tomorrow morning, ok?
We’d work out every day.
We would spend morning afternoon and evening together.
I learned that there was Diego and there was Maradona.
Diego was a kid who had insecurities a wonderful boy.
Maradona was the character he had to come up with in order to face the demands of the football business and the media.
Maradona couldn’t show any weakness.
One day I told him that with Diego I would go to the end of the world but with Maradona I wouldn’t take a step.
And he said, “Yes, but if it wasn’t for Maradona I’d still be in Villa Fiorito.”
Villa Fiorito was a slum in the poorest part of the capital city.
There were no paved roads.
Many people there didn’t have drinking water or sewers.
Diego was born in a very difficult place.
I was the fifth, after four girls.
My dad had had enough of girls.
There were seven of us: five of us kids and Mum and Dad in the same shack.
I would see my dad get up at four in the morning he was a manual worker.
He would arrive home dead and fall asleep in front of me!
So, my dad was terrific but I was always my mum’s favourite.
So, I was a mama’s boy.
For me a football was the most beautiful toy.
I didn’t like what the other little kids played.
This was my salvation.
At the age of eleven I started playing football for a club which was part of Argentinos Juniors FC and from then on I was off.
Here’s an excited neighbourhood just a few blocks away from Argentinos Junior’s pitch where this football player made his name.
Argentinos Juniors rented an apartment for me ten minutes away from the stadium.
That was the big change for the family.
It was in the capital city it was all brand new.
All of us moved in eight of us.
Our parents were humble people.
It was very emotional and beautiful.
So, since he was 15, Diego supported the family.
A very heavy load for just one person.
The truth is, I played football always thinking about buying a house for my parents and never going back to Fiorito.
I think you are better off in Napoli than in Barcelona. What do you think?
Yes, I’m glad I left for Naples, because now I am very happy and I’m fighting every day to make Napoli greater.
When I got to Naples I saw that the mentality was about avoiding relegation.
This year will be different.
Even the dogs run too, the Neapolitans are coming.
Sick with cholera. Victims of the earthquake. You never washed with soap.
Napoli shit! Napoli cholera!
You are the shame of the whole of Italy.
Neapolitan, work hard because for Maradona you’ll have to sell your ass too!
The Neapolitans were the “Africans” of Italy “The Unwashed”, “The Peasants””.
We went up north and wherever we went they put up banners that said: “Wash Yourselves”.
It was disgusting.
“HELLO CHOLERA SUFFERERS”
“NAPLES, SEWER OF ITALY”
Wash them, wash them wash them with fire!
Oh Vesuvio, wash them with fire!
They were all racists.
I felt as though I represented a part of Italy which counted for nothing.
Fury, anger, and fighting against adversity these are fuel for Maradona.
Fuel that he always used.
Napoli sent its crowd into such ecstasy so much so that, unfortunately, among the spectators five people fainted and two had heart attacks.
So, quite literally, Maradona, by scoring this goal made a big mess.
Maradona, you are used to scoring, but when you scored this goal against Juventus after which you ran to the Neapolitan fans, what were you thinking?
What colour is this goal?
The colour of today’s goal is blue, blue for the people of Naples because no-one who doesn’t live in Naples can imagine all the stuff people were saying about us during the week.
For this reason this goal and this victory have been deserved by the people.
That’s how Naples is.
Yes, but I don’t want anybody at my house.
Next time we’ll have to call the police otherwise forget it.
After the great victory against Juventus almost every Neapolitan had a photo of Diego in their homes.
Many had it on top of their bed, next to Jesus.
Carmine Giuliano, according to some people you threatened some immigrants from the Dominican Republic to encourage them to leave Forcella.
Is that true?
I don’t think it’s our job to make them go away.
It’s the government who automatically will take its own measures about this situation.
We don’t kick out anyone, because we already have our own problems we’ve already been through our own misfortunes.
The Giulianos from Forcella are prominent figures from the most important clans in the Nuova Famiglia
the Camorra group that opposes Raffaele Cutolo’s large mob.
No one has ever managed to file accurate charges against them.
They put me on a scooter we drive off to Forcella.
We arrive the table had been set for dinner one guy had a gun beside him.
It all looked like something out of The Untouchables, Al Capone!
So we’re there eating and Carmine said to me “Any problem you have is also my problem” and he said they would protect us in Naples.
For me it was all new.
It was like being in a movie.
Oh yeah! Fantastic!
It was out!
Amazing!
What style.
You won’t return it.
Yes, brilliant!
No, it was totally out!
It was on the line.
Try this one.
Diego told me the Camorra wanted to show us their gratitude, that’s all.
I felt safe and reassured that nobody could do anything to us it was like we were protected.
He had a personality where he always wanted to prove his worth and always demanded respect.
But, once he got home, he was a different person, he was Diego.
I’ve won Wimbledon!
It was out!
What are you talking about! It wasn’t out
When I started dating Claudia, Claudia was 15 and I was 16.
My mum was very, very jealous in regards to me and I had to hide Claudia a little.
But I had already made a commitment to her.
He was a lovely person.
Very affectionate.
Very intelligent.
And a very good dancer to any kind of music.
Girls would claim to have had flings with him and he would come to me and say
“Plogse don’t believe that, it’s all lies”
and he would deny anything had happened.
I have a very docile personality and I accepted that.
I always bet on our love.
Diego, here is Heather.
Nice to meet you.
I wanted to meet you.
On television?
And personally too.
I was in love with Claudia but, I was no saint and there were some very beautiful women.
Gorgeous women.
Oh, so many!
I met Diego maybe one year after his arrival in Naples.
I was a friend of Maria his sister who lived near him, in Naples.
I was 21, he was 25.
He was funny and affectionate.
I’d spend a lot of time in his home.
So, it wasn’t a surprise to find myself pregnant, because we both knew what we were doing.
She was a very nice woman but, I couldn’t understand how a chance relationship could produce a child.
I couldn’t get it into my head.
In his second season the football map in Italy started to turn upside down.
Napoli ended third in the league and Diego was their highest goalscorer that season.
But, I wanted to put into his head that the real goal was the World Cup which would be played at high altitude with climate conditions that would be tailor made for him.
The Argentinian team only just qualified for the World Cup.
In Argentina there was a complete lack of faith in the team.
When he scored his goal against Italy, the World Champions a lot of people, including journalists suddenly changed their opinions.
Could this be Diego Maradona’s World Cup?
I hope so, I really want it, with all my strength because if this is Maradona’s World Cup this will be Argentina’s World Cup and we both want that.
Diego travelled to Mexico certain about Cristiana Sinagra’s pregnancy and this was something that really affected him.
But, luckily, he had his dad who always made sure Diego kept his feet on the ground.
One can see here the hard labour of the men during the training camp with a shovel in their hands.
The audience wants your opinion.
How’s the work going?
It’s sweltering.
It really is hot, isn’t it? We are really sweating here.
Is it true that the person in charge of sharing out, always keeps the biggest bit for himself?
Sounds about right!
Let’s see, a chorizo for someone.
A chorizo? Let’s see, I’ll hold it up for you this way.
Grab it from the tip. There you go.
Take it to the table, and I’ll follow.
You take it, Diego.
It’s fine, Coco. Stop busting my balls.
Caress it!
I know you like to stroke it sometimes.
We, as Agentinians didn’t know what the military was up to.
They told us that we were winning the war.
But, in reality, England was winning 20-0.
It was tough.
The hype made it seem like we were going to play out another war.
I knew it was my hand.
It wasn’t my plan.
But the action happened so fast that the linesman didn’t see me putting my hand in.
The referee looked at me and he said, “Goal”.
It was a nice feeling like some sort of symbolic revenge against the English.
Hoddle gives away the ball
Cuciuffo gives it to Enrique
Enrique hooks it to Diego.
Maradona has the ball, two are marking him, he touches the ball
the genius of world football dashes to the right
and leaves the third. He’s going to pass to Burruchaga. It’s still Maradona!
Genius! Genius! Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!
GOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
Gooooooooooal!
Sorry, I want to cry!
Dear God, long live football!
Gooooooooooal! Diegoal!
Maradona! it’s enough to make you cry, forgive me.
What an unforgettable run!
A cosmic kite! What planet did you come from so that the whole country is a clenched fist shouting for Argentina?
Thank you God: for football, for Maradona for these tears.
Diego! Diego!
Amazing!
Kiss the shirt!
If someone wants to explain the myth around Maradonda it’s enough to refer to the match against England.
In those two goals the first one with his hand and the second one, dribbling through all the opponents are all the reasons why he is loved and also why he is hated.
A little bit of cheating but also a lot of genius.
The best football player in the world was born in Argentina!
We’re all together! Together we are whole!
Argentina’s gonna be the champion!
We dedicate this
to everyone and the whores who gave birth to them!
Argentina’s gonna be the champion!
We dedicate this
to everyone and the whores
who gave birth to them!
We’ll keep this moment in mind.
The thing is, nobody believed in us
and I think we gave a punch in the face to all the defeatists
including Argentinians, who wished the worst for this team
and well, now that we are here
we don’t want to miss this opportunity we have
to be known all over the world.
Here we go! Come on!
Let’s go with everything we’ve got!
Two hours! In two hours we’re going to be champions!
It’s time to be champions. Let’s go and kill them!
We were lucky that they were not scared of us
that they had a better track record than us.
They went out onto the pitch with more confidence
they thought we were going to chicken out.
This never happened.
We went looking for them.
Come on!
The match was almost over
I was dead, knackered.
But the whole of the German defence was knackered too.
And in the middle of all that chaos
the No.10 is the player that needs to show himself.
Maradona heads it out to Cuciuffo, he heads it back to Maradona.
Maradona’s between three
he releases Burruchaga
Burruchaga goes alone! Valdano is there
Burruchaga
GOOAALLLLLL!!!!!!!
Burruchaga, after the genius pass from Maradona!
Hola Mama.
Hola my love.
Tota, I love you Mama.
My life! My life.
I lov you lots, Mama.
I love you too. Go rest my son.
Today you made me the happiest mother on Earth.
Let’s take a photo.
Please.
For me.
I just want one with the cup.
Let’s go, let’s go. Take another one.
Don’t worry Diego, I will lend you a car.
No, no, no!
My girlfriend is coming with me.
Limousine, I want a limousine.
That’s what I’m saying.
Limousine.
You can use one of my cars.
Limousine, a white one.
Yes, because I promised it to her
I promised to Claudia.
Film me here with my girl
otherwise she’ll say I didn’t have her beside me.
And don’t forget Valeria!
This Little Virgin Mary.
For Maradona
this was given to me by my chick.
Film me right next to her
after all, I’ve had a month looking at her!
She was your motivation right?
And how! You know what
what a beast!
The press are pancakes! And yet we are the champions!
Dance fans, keep dancing.
Dance with your hearts.
They are pancakes! The press are pancakes!
But we are the champions!
Dance fans, keep dancing.
Dance with all your hearts.
They are pancakes! The press are pancakes!
But we are the champions!
I never dreamed of anything that’s happening to me now.
I swear on my mum’s life.
I’ve always dreamt of playing on a first division pitch
in front of lots of people
and being able to buy a house for my parents.
But these are things you don’t dream of.
It was as if Argentina was celebrating its saviour:
a little black kid from a very poor neighbourhood.
Who fights. Who stirs things up.
Who wins.
Dona Tota, how are your days
now that he’s here, after winning the World Cup?
I don’t let him go out of bed.
He sleeps, I bring him the milk.
I look at him, I give him a kiss.
I go downstairs, I go upstairs, and so on.
All day?
Is he behaving all right?
He behaves very well.
Does he obey you or not?
Yes, yes, yes.
Otherwise she hits me!
Let’s talk about some gossip that is a bit of a mystery as well.
Is Diego Maradona the father of a baby born yesterday in Napoli?
The mother of the baby argues that Maradona is the father of her son.
The player doesn’t answer, his maid states that Maradona is sleeping and that he doesn’t want to be bothered.
Behind this light blue bow, Room 509 of a Neapolitan clinic Cristiana Sinagra, 22 years old, a degree in accounting has given birth, at 11:15, to a baby who will be named Diego Armando Junior,
A very famous name in Naples. Why this name?
Yes, because he is born out of a relationship between me and Diego, the Napoli football player.
Diego Armando Maradona?
Napoli’s football player?
So, when did you guys meet?
In December ’85.
And how long did your relationship last?
Until Apri ’86.
Diego, do you want to say something about the game?
I’m not talking to Rai TV anymore.
Some news today brought you onto the front page.
What do you have to say about this?
Talk to my lawyer.
I was home alone, while Diego was at training.
I was two months pregnant.
I turn on the TV and see a woman holding a baby and she’s saying it’s Diego’s.
He came home crying and saying that it was a lie, that it wasn’t true.
I said, “I won’t ask this again.”
Tell me the truth, now” and he said, “No. It’s a lie”.
“THIS BABY IS MARADONA’S SON”
He really didn’t know what to do.
It came out everywhere: newspapers, magazines.
I was Cristiana’s friend I knew everything, but I wasn’t allowed to say anything.
He said, “I’m with Claudia” and he tried to erase all this from his life.
Have you ever met this girl, Diego?
Look, I know a lot of people in Naples but having a son, that’s a different thing entirely.
Some people say, “Don’t be so dramatic”.
I’m not being dramatic, because I haven’t hurt anybody, I don’t wish anyone ill.
I want to play football, in peace.
I don’t steal anyone’s money.
That’s why I don’t understand everything that’s happened in the last 15 days.
Why, do you think, he hasn’t admitted it’s his son?
He’s not very mature.
He knows.
He knows that’s his son.
He knows he’s there.
I think he suffers for this.
This is the Napoli I wanted from the moment I arrived here.
There was a change of mindset, thanks to Diego.
It wasn’t enough to beat Juventus or beat Milan.
We had to beat them all.
It’s very emotional! Every year we sacrifice a lot for Napoli.
It’s an emotion we feel inside.
We’re too happy!
Super happy!
Napoli has never been top of the league before
so we ve never felt like this before.
She’s so chubby!
Give her a kiss!
Hello my love!
She’s so healthy!
She doesn’t cry?
No, she’s very nice.
Open your eyes to look at daddy!
The little rascal has arrived!
Only once?
Only once, my love?
President, we have to, I’m not saying celebrate
but we have to tell it like it is.
Will Napoli be Italy’s champion or not?
The Championship is long and difficult
there are six games left
so we still have a lot to play for.
Diego, a League Title, what would it mean for Naples?
You’ll have to ask the city.
All I can say is that we
we go onto the pitch to make people happy.
So here we are, dear sports fans, at the San Paolo
a packed and wonderful San Paolo, with thousands of flags.
A game that can deliver, truly
the Championship, the first one in the history of this city.
Diego! You did a lap of honour.
How did it feel?
This is the greatest moment in my life, honestly, because
I’ve won a few things, but
You’re the World Champion!
No, the problem is that I didn’t win it in my country, you see?
They took away my chance to be a part of Argentint’s victory in ’78, in my country
that’s why this is the most important celebration of my life.
What does Naples mean to you now?
It’s my home. My home for sure.
For Napoli, to win the League Title was like winning the World Cup.
Now the doubters had to believe
that I was the best.
I was alone there
above everyone else.
Oh mamma, mamma, mamma!
Do you know why
my heart is racing?
I’ve seen Maradona!
And mum! I fell in love with him!
Oh mamma, mamma, mamma!
Do you know why
my heart is racing?
I’ve seen Maradona!
And I fell in love with him!
President, President
President, you are the most excited of all!
Yes, it’s been 18 years, if you will allow me this!
OK, I do the interviews.
Look, Giordano
Giordano, how did it feel winning this title?
An immense joy that I dedicate to my mother.
Great! Great! You’re great! Like a fish!
Now to Nando, Nando!
What do you think about the supporters, Nando?
Amazing really, they deserved this Scudetto because it has been something amazing, stupendous!
Look Diego, now you tell us something since you’ve interviewed everyone.
When you came to Napoli did you really believe you would win the title?
Yes, yes. I left Barcelona without winning anything
basically nothing, because we won one Copa Del Rey
but if I had, I had
They just wet the shit out of me!
I took the scooter with my wife, and we celebrating in the city.
I drove past the cemetery
and I saw, written
“You don’t know what you missed”.
The celebrations went on for two months!
An immense joy.
Naples was totally blue.
The victory mark social redemption of our city and, thanks to Diego, this continued in the following years.
Napoli conquers the Italian Cup after the Championship.
Long live Forcella! And Naples! With Maradona!
Diego! Maradona! Give us an autograph!
It was impossible.
They had so much hope and when Diego delivered
it was like, “He saved us, he chose us!”
He became a God
or Saint Gennaro
the city’s patron saint.
You can’t say a bad word about Maradona.
If you speak badly of Maradona, you are criticising God
and you can’t criticise God because He is above everything.
We Neapolitans have inside us, more than God perhaps, Maradona.
Are you happy about this?
No, I think there’s a huge difference.
Let’s look at the final table for Serie A
Napoli qualifies for the UEFA Cup.
Maradona has won the top scorer chart.
You’re everything!
Don’t kiss me on my mouth!
I couldn’t go out onto the street.
Every time I went out on the street there would be a commotion.
I couldn’t go to the theatre, to the cinema, go shopping.
The affection was too clingy and too uncomfortable.
After he underwent a blood test
the nurse took the phial of Diego’s blood
and placed it in the urch of San Gennaro
like he was a demigod.
I disturbed him psychologically.
He still felt like Diego from Villa Fiorito:
a shitty little black kid from the slums.
So, Maradona took over.
Next time I catch you snooping around my house
I’ll give you a big head like this!
Diego, look, I do my job, you do yours.
I’m doing my job.
Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me because
don’t touch me or I’ll go like this and we’ll have to go under the table!
Enough!
We went to the Paradise.
We ate. And later we moved to the hotel.
Diego was going in and out of the bathroom.
I just thought it was because he had drunk some champagne.
But then, I was told they had done other things.
I told him, “Diego be careful”.
Cocaine.
I tried it in Barcelona
in a nightclub.
One hit
and I felt like Superman.
In Naples drugs were everywhere.
And from there I took more and more.
Diego could ask the Giuliano clan for cocaine
and cocaine arrived.
But the problem is that, once on the Camorra
you start to become their property.
They offered things to me.
The Camorra?
And I asked, “What do I have to do?”
They’d mostly get me to inaugurate a business.
I’m really happy to be here tonight.
Two pictures for next day’s newspapers
and they’d give me a watch.
Diego watch out! He’ll make you sign a promissory note!
It was a golden age, because every time I went they’d give me a gold Rolex.
I noticed he no longer was Diego, the person we all knew.
More often
he was Maradona
a different person.
I felt he started to look for a way to escape
from I don’t know what
to get himself out of something, or some place.
Juve, Juve, fuck off!
Juve, fuck off!
Well done!
Milan, fuck off!
We are gonna destroy them, we are gonna destroy them.
You say it.
We are gonna destroy them, we are gonna destroy them.
With Napoli I had achieved everything
I had nothing left to do.
I had made the people happy.
I was the poster boy of the south.
I wanted to end my career
somewhere calmer.
I love you very much!
We are the best in Europe, we are on top of the world!
We are the best in the world!
If I can ask an indiscreet question, girls
one moment, an indiscreet question
but you need to answer honestly, first you and then you.
Which Napoli player would you sleep with tonight?
Maradona!
And you?
Maradona!
Three of you then, you, her and Maradona. What about you?
Bagni’s wife.
Beautiful, isn’t she?
What about Giuliani’s wife?
Hmm, not really.
Ciro’s a Neapolitan! He deserves it more than everyone!
He scored a goal!
Let’s go Ciro, let’s go.
The embrace of the victory! Good job guys!
At the end of the game
Maradona asked me to sell him.
He wanted to leave Napoli.
But I did not want to sell Maradona.
I wanted him to stay here at all costs.
So, I was Maradona’s jailer.
I told Ferlaino that I’m giving him the chance to get rid of Maradona.
Ferlaino knows what to do.
I never force anybody.
Maradona, last night, gave one more explosive statement.
He said, “I no longer have the focus and mind to play in the Italian league” it is not a matter of money”
Mr Maradona is free to do what he wants and to say that he wants a less stressful league.
If I were a Napoli player I would not kick the ball, but Maradona’s ass!
And with much gusto.
Diego, how’s your mood today?
Great. Great.
Do you have anything to add, after what you said yesterday?
No, nothing. Nothing.
I’ll continue training and when it will please Ferlaino, I’ll play. Ok?
Will you play on Sunday?
If Ferlaino wants me to, I will.
He’s my boss, Ferlaino.
When it’ll please him, I will play.
I was pissed-off.
Every Sunday we played a match
we went out to eat
Claudia would stay in with the girls and I went out to drink with my friends
and that’s when we took coke.
And that carried on until Wednesday
and then
I started cleansing, cleansing, cleansing to play on Sunday.
I would come home high on drugs and when I saw my daughters I would be afraid.
So, I would lock myself in the bathroom.
I knew inside me that I had a kid in Naples but, at the time, that didn’t bother me.
I didn’t care.
It was getting more obvious through his behaviour that cocaine had him in its grip.
I told him he needed to find people who knew how to help him.
But “Maradona” couldn’t allow himself to show any weakness.
So, with Claudia, I approached two or three drug rehab clinics. I also spoke to the President Ferlaino.
Everybody knew what Maradona was up to and we fought against this a lot because there were dope tests after the games and I did not want this all over the newspapers.
But the dope testing wasn’t so strict.
Probably someone else peed for Maradona.
It could be, I don’t know.
But as long as Maradona carried on playing we won.
It’s finding the right spot that hurts!
Now we’ve found it.
I can really feel it now.
Can you feel it?
Oh yes!
Yes, but anyway much less than last time.
Because this time we used an angaesthetic.
He suffered from sciatic and lower back pain.
He would get five injections in different places
so he could play the next day
and Diego would bite the pillow because
it was so painful.
It was brutally damaging
but the people that ran the business
only cared about getting the most out of him
and if he ended up in pieces
then fuck him.
That’s enough pain for now.
Look at me.
I went to Diego’s house
we had dinner.
Diego told me that his relationship with Naples was broken
because the environment was suffocating him and he really wanted to leave.
And then, at around midnight, the doorbell rang.
Claudia came and whispered to Diego, he jumped up
and he said I was going to see the real Naples.
We get in a van, Diego is driving.
We see a red Lancia, who was in it?
Carmine Giuliano.
He kisses Diego on both cheeks and says, “Let’s go”.
It was a show of power:
Diego was the most famous person in Naples
but he couldn’t refuse the Camorra.
Carmine went ahead and we followed
and we made our way into the city.
It was midnight, silence.
Carmine stepped out of his car
and started to walk in front of the van.
As soon as the van turned into the street it was as if the whole place exploded.
I was sitting behind Diego
he wasn’t comfortable.
Nobody touched the van, although ere were tons of people around.
Carmine kissed Diego and said, “Thanks Diego”.
I think he knew the cocaine was completely taking hold of him
and that was his weak point.
It was the way to control Maradona, through his addiction.
Diego Armando Maradona, 16 goals in this Championship.
Napoli only needs one point to proclaim themselves Champions of Italy.
Enough! Enough!
Maradona is on the ball
Maradona lobs it towards the centre of the box
Baroni, and GOAL!!! Goal by Baroni!
It’s the final whistle! The Title! The second Championship Title in the history of Napoli.
After the first Championship, the second one is here. What do you think?
It’s a shame we didn’t win the two Championships inbetween. Anyway, next year
Mamma mia, really?
But President we have to let someone else win, otherwise it gets boring.
So, what we are going to win next year?
Let’s see, let the see. I want the European Cup, President.
Then, we need to seriously think about that for next year.
But you still haven’t told me what you think about this Title.
Beautiful.
And the team?
The team has been very strong. With a great captain, great fans
And a great President.
Thank You!
The joy was huge.
I was right not to sell him.
Maradona is a unique example of enthusiasm
that has gradually turned into disappointment
because everyone hoped he’d go to Napoli to be a star, but not to win.
As soon as he started winning he immediately became insufferable.
Then, they also accused him of becoming rich
and throwing the kind of parties rich people throw
with the same bad taste
but because he’s originally poor, he shouldn’t be allowed to.
The sum of these things led to the great dislike of Maradona.
In the World Cup I was in the Italian squad.
Our football was superior to the rest of Europe, and the world.
It was a strong team, committed and with the will to claim the World Cup.
We were the favourites
especially because we were playing at home
and the whole of Italy wanted to see us win.
Four, five, six.
Ok, there you go.
Seven. Last round!
Oh my God!
I want to enter history.
Diego got to the World Cup
with insane determination.
His drug problem was quite advanced
but his motivation was enough to stop using drugs.
As a madman, no-one can beat me.
And this is Maradona’s moment.
You can hear the booing which, of course, welcomes Maradona
he is now condemned to this hostile atmosphere which he keeps encountering.
We went all over Italy and wherever we went
it was everyone against Maradona.
Here’s Maradonag, he runs-up, he shoots
and it’s blocked!
Mistake by Maradona.
Blocked! Argentina goes to the semi-final!
Big mistake by the Italian Federation:
Argentina and Italy n Naples!
That is a mistake.
They should have foreseen that it could have happened.
Never put Argentina in Naples. Never.
It’s six years of my life here in Naples
I believe people know me well by now
and they’ll support my national team.
I can’t ask the Neapolitans for anything more than I’ve asked in these six years
but if they want to see me happy, for sure
I would be pleased if they supported Argentina.
Also because we need it
and I believe that when Naples needed Maradona
I always came through for them.
I’d like to say something to all the Italian fans:
we, in Naples, were given everything by Diego Maradona
and I am the first one to buy my ticket to support Argentina.
Forza Argentina!
“Naples is not Italy!” Maradona has just declared
undisturbed by the fury he has provoked.
Exploiting in the dispute between Italians of the north and the south
the Argentinian star asked his people, the Neapolitans
to support the South American team.
Italy is playing, that’s all. And we need to be all united. That’s it.
Right, so answer to my question: why did they do the opening ceremony in Milan
when the group with Argentina was in Naples?
Diego, unfortunately, is in our hearts, in the hearts and souls of us Neapolitans
because we have lived our lives on the stadium stands
and, unfortunately, he has to lose.
Argentina must lose.
Maradona is doing well, right?
See how the italians are pressing him.
Burruchaga!
The first chance on goal for Argentina.
Schillaci keeps going.
Pass from Schillaci to De Napoli.
Vialli to Giannnini.
Giannini heads it up
Schillaci follows up!
And it’s an Italian goal.
Once again a pass to Maradona
brilliant turn to lose his marker!
Basualdo to Maradona
Olarticoechea
Olarticoechea to Caniggia
Goal by Caniggia!
The equaliser for Argentina in the 67th minute.
It’s extra time.
It’s over. And it’s penalties.
Franco Baresi is going to kick the first penalty for Italy.
With all his experience, Franco Baresi
there goes Baresi and goal!
The perfect definition of a penalty: strong, violent.
The first penalty for Argentina.
Here’s Serrizuela.
There he goes, Baggio!
Argh! al! But so close!
The executioner, Burruchaga.
A screaming hell in the stadium!
Donadoni, he’s not a specialist, I don’t have him as such.
Donadoni.
Goycochea saved it!
It was an irreversible situation.
Deep inside his soul he wanted to get to the final
but if he scores
it could permanently break his bound with Italians.
Now it’s Maradona.
Diego goes
goaaaallll!!!
Great Diego! No hesitation, smoothly.
Now comes the final penalty PV A PR NI RS VAR VS PP
Serena with the penalty.
He’s saved it! Argentina are in the final of the World Cup.
To lose on penalties was a trauma for all of us.
That was a match we really didn’t want to lose in the San Paolo.
I’m still upset with Diego.
It was brutal for everyone
traumatic for everyone.
Is this Maradona’s revenge?
I don’t think so. Rather, it is luck’s revenge against Italy.
I don’t think this Argentinian team deserved to reach the final.
We could have never imagined that the people of Naples
Yes, good evening!
That the people of Naples could have stopped supporting the Italian team.
The statement you made
some have seen it as a deliberate provocation, a Machiavelli move.
No, I
I never wanted to create a row
between the Italians and people from Naples
because us foreigners, we know very well
that the Neapolitans are Italian through and through.
Listen, do you know Masaniello’s story?
No, no.
Masaniello was a historic figure who
led the beggars of Naples into a revolt
which ended horribly.
No, I don’t want to end horribly.
At the time, a survey was carried by La Repubblica newspaper
where people could choose all kinds of famous people, politicians, dictators
and Maradona was chosen as the most hated person in Italy.
Sons of a bitch!
You sons of bitches!
He gave the number to me because he is in the bathroom.
Maybe Italo passed it onto him.
Well, Italo is our friend, from the Chalet Park nightclub.
Yes, exactly.
Hello, Diego?
So, give me the address.
Yes, I, erm… I am at the Airone.
The Airone in Via Manzoni?
That’s it. Felice will come look for you. He’s a friend of mine.
He’ll come pick me up?
Yes.
What time is it now?
Erm, it is 3:30 a.m.
3.30? Is around 4 a.m. ok?
Yes, fine. Do you have two girls?
Yes, yes.
So, you’re near…?
The Airone
At the Airone?
In via Petrarca.
Fine. Bye dear!
Oh Diego, wait! My son wants to say hi.
Hi Diego!
Hello.
What happened in Turin?
Not much, unfortunately.
We’ve been unlucky!
Oh yes.
But we’ll make it anyway!
They’re all sons of bitches!
Will you leave Napoli or will you stay here?
I don’t know.
Anyway. Ciao, ciao.
Ciao.
Diego, so in half an hour then?
Yes. Ciao Carmela, ciao.
Prostitution in Naples is run by the Camorra.
The woman Diego used to phone was a woman who was part of Forcella’s criminal system meaning the Giuliano clan.
Hey, how goes it?
Last night, you never showed up and that guy came by, wanting some ‘gear’ Maradoo.
He came here, he wanted women and ‘gear’.
Ok, understood.
When Carmela comes back, we’ll sort this out.
From telephone calls, intercepted in the course of investigations into the trafficking of drugs it has emerged that there may have been on the part of the Napoli footballer Diego Armando Maradona a request for drugs and for women.
An investigation has started into the Napoli football player, Maradona.
He faces charges for drug possession and handling.
A voice on the phone links the Argentinian to a dangerous clan of drug dealers.
Nine are already in jail, sixteen are on the run.
It’s a voice that can dig an abyss in front of the ex World Champion.
What do you have to say about all this?
No, just… I’ve got lawyers, let’s see.
The wiretappings lifted the veil on what this city already knew
and gossiped about in the streets:
“Maradona is a drug addict”
“Maradona goes with whores””.
What Maradona would ask for.
Where Maradona used to do it.
Sad and squalid sexual details of Maradona.
It was an unprecedented fall.
Those who hated Maradona wanted to destroy him.
Because he offered some of his cocaine to the prostitutes
he was charged it,”Possession of Drugs for the Purpose of Trafficking”
which carried a sentence of twenty years in jail.
The irony is that
the relationship between Diego and the Giulianos
was causing problems to the Camorra itself
which doesn’t like operating in the spotlight.
The Camorra started to feel the investigators
and magistrates breathing down their necks
and so, those same cammorristi abandoned him and let him drown.
Diego presented himself to the judges.
On his arrival at the Justice Palace, in the company of his lawyer Siniscalchi
the crowd let loose.
It was a nasty trial.
The prosecutor was very severe.
I told Maradona
“We have to make a plea bargain”.
According to this deal, Mr. Diego Armando Maradona
accepted a suspended sentence of one year and two months in jail
and a 5 million lira fine.
Which means? For ordinary people?
For the crimes he’s been accused of.
So, for ordinary people, what does this mean?
Is Diego Armando Maradona quilty?
On Diego Armando Maradona’s criminal record this sentence will appear.
Maradona was losing his grip.
I found him in the bathroom, under some blankets, and he would not come out.
Hi Diego, even today you seem very calm to me.
Perfect. I’ve never been so calm.
Good then.
Has something changed, Diego?
No, nothing. Nothing at all.
Maybe you’d like to leave Napoli a bit earlier?
No, no. I’ll finish the Championship.
Immediately after the Napoli-Bari match Diego Maradona was summoned for an anti-doping test.
For Maradona it was the first time since the rules made it mandatory.
The soap opera is getting more like a thriller:
the anti-doping analysis supposedly revealed traces of banned substances
which are connected with the troublesome private life of the Argentinian.
The risk, for him, is a six-month disqualification
and, above all, a sad decline.
No-one was surprised they found his urine contained traces of cocaine.
The whole world knew about Diego’s addiction.
But the powers-that-be saw a great opportunity to finish him off.
The sentence in the Maradona doping case
is a disqualification of more than a year
for the Argentinian ace, until June 30th 1992.
My opinion of him is unaltered.
I have my own idea of Maradona the public figure
of Maradona the man, from when he arrived here in Italy.
I have known him a long time
so my idea of him will absolutely not change
nd will no tarnish the beautifu image I have of Diego.
The ban was unprecedented in Italy.
It was then adopted by FIFA
all over the world.
Again, no punishment that harsh had ever happened before.
I was struck by the fact that no-one from the club was at the anti-doping sentencing
not even Ferlaino was there.
When we realised the doping was positive
Diego said, “We are leaving now, let’s go.”
I did what I could, I packed what I could
and we left.
It was tough.
When I arrived in Naples
I was welcomed by 85,000 people.
When I left
I was all alone.
I left quietly.
I didn’t make any fuss.
Maradona was surprised in an apartment with two friends.
When he was arrested
Maradona was under the influence of drugs
and had 1.5g of cocaine on him.
I don’t know what to do
and it hurts me a lot.
My arms are down, my soul is shattered.
They took away his life.
Without football
there was nothing else for him to do.
And all the effort we made
the ones who loved him and wanted him to get well
wasn’t enough.
So, he was just hurting himself.
Ready, ready. I can’t see him, I can’t see him! Thanks!
Oh dear.
Oh, dear God!
You’ll have to fix my mic, this one just fell off.
I’ll do it now.
Oh dear God.
Diego, you are greater than the Pope!
That isn’t saying much.
Oh dear.
Oh God.
Slowly, slowly.
All good?
My mic fell.
We’ll sort it out. Did they treat you well?
Well, well, they treated me well.
Guys the mic! Let’s fix the microphone and we start.
In the place you are in now, do you feel the disease can be properly treated?
That it can be cured, that everything needed is there?
Absolutely, Daniel.
Where I am now it’s a pigsty.
But, I also have to thank that pigsty
because, as my sister reminded me yesterday
“Thanks to this pigsty you’re alive today, Pelu”.
The people in there with you
who have some sort of addiction, what kind of people are they, Diego?
No, it’s a psychiatric hospital.
Where one can’t have a conversation, one has to follow the rules.
I understand you.
I see my daughter and I cry.
It really isn’t so bad as to get me this emotional.
I want… Well, that was that.
You have to keep fighting. You always fought and this is just one more battle.
I’m losing by knock-out.
Your family, do they understand this?
I perhaps understood too late
that they only wanted to see me well and
and they couldn’t do any more
any more than
any more than what they’re doing.
My brother
from the age of 15, he stopped having a life.
He became someone else.
He always took care of everything.
It was a heavy weight to be so famous.
But he always wanted to solve his problems himself.
He never wanted to involve his family.
He was always the hero.
But he couldn’t do it alone.
Diego has had a life both tremendous and terrible.
Diego has nothing to do with Maradona but Maradona drags Diego around wherever he goes.
Maradona in Naples is the story of his life.
Perhaps the best football player in history.
But the price was too high because nothing that happened after ended well.
Maradona the footballer was finished
and all that survived was the myth.
When you’re on the pitch
life goes away.
Problems go away.
Everything goes away.
In 2016, after 30 years of denial, Diego Maradona finally acknowledged the truth about his relationship with Cristiana Sinagra
