FREE-KICK P K Banerjee

I grew up in the era of Sir Stanley Mathews, and was heavily influenced by him as an upcoming footballer in the early 50s.

Mathews was then considered the icon of world football, his dribbling maverick, the greatest player the game had ever seen. I never had the opportunity to watch Mathews in action but was lucky to watch a few films on him. He was simply amazing, a nightmare for any defender.

For years, I was firm in my belief that there couldn’t be another like Mathews till I watched Diego Armando Maradona. I had heard a lot about him since the early 80s, but the 1986 World Cup was a revelation. I could not believe that someone could produce such magic with his left foot. Till date I am not too sure whether there can be another player like Maradona again.

As a former player and coach, my first reaction after watching Maradona was to try and analyse his style of play and find the flaws in him. Then I understood that I was not the only one who was trying to crack the Maradona mystery. Coaches from all over the world were doing the same. That none of them could really succeed in their efforts is another matter.

Maradona is god’s gift to the game. Before I watched him play, I never imagined that someone could be so deceptive. He could shield the ball from all angles and it was impossible to snatch it away from him without committing a foul. He was short, and it helped him to have a better centre of gravity. To his advantage Maradona had an extremely strong body and to force him to lose his balance was a difficult job.

Maradona’s biggest quality was that at times he made football look like an individual sport. Time and again he won matches almost single-handedly. His opponents left no stone unturned to mark him closely and many of them adopted unfair means. Yet he got the better of them on most occasions. In terms of sheer ball skills, he is certainly the greatest.

As a man, Maradona is widely regarded as a misguided soul. I beg to disagree with that theory. To me he is man with a great heart. He never forgot the fact that he belonged to a humble background. He was raised in poor surroundings and had to struggle immensely to achieve his goal. He has never made an attempt to erase his past.

My daughter narrated an extraordinary story after she returned from one of her trips to England a few years ago. In Cambridge, they organised a reception for Maradona and my daughter was fortunate to be present there. Finally, when Maradona was asked to speak, his words were moving.

He spoke about his modest background, his lack of education, his distractions in life and how he rose to become the prince of football.

My daughter still vividly remembers his touching words that left the entire house moved. It was an extraordinary situation where a nearly uneducated young man had some of the best names in the society completely stumped through his honest uttering.

It is a pity that Maradona would be visiting Calcutta a bit too late, 11 years after bidding goodbye to the game. In the past, the city had been fortunate to watch some of the greatest names in football in action, including Pele. Only recently Oliver Kahn was given an emotional send off by 120,000 spectators at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Nevertheless, I feel proud when I think that for 50 years I was involved with the same sport that Maradona played to mesmerise the world.

Football is a beautiful game. Maradona has turned it into a stunning beauty.