RIP Maradona; Dead at 60.

[Comrade Machel]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

[GG of G]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

[Its a Goal]

Recently I saw a video of Maradona doing the football trick with a tennis ball. It was just insane seeing the ball go so high and meeting him at the exact spot. Life is not fair.

[Its a Goal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ69bFbgVG8[/video]

Rest on genius

[Scipio Africanus]

Recently I saw a video of Maradona doing the football trick with a tennis ball. It was just insane seeing the ball go so high and meeting him at the exact spot. Life is not fair.

He practiced by juggling an orange with both feet while crossing a bridge from the time he was a very little kid. It is said that the orange never touched the ground while he was crossing the bridge.

[azuka]

Rest on peacefully the flawed genius. Thanks for the sweet memories.

[Scipio Africanus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uhS2qX5-xQ[/video]

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ69bFbgVG8[/video]

Rest on genius

that's not Maradona but an actor

[theDunamis]

RIP Diego Armando Maradona.

No footballer before and none after has taken an entire World Cup tournament and made it a spectacular testament to greatness like you did in WC86. Under intense scrutiny and attention from believers and doubters alike, you defined the beauty in the beautiful game. #Legend

[theYemster]

Very nice gesture. Would have been better if they had done it while he was alive.

My exact thoughts when I first read it.

[mcal]

RIP Diego Armando Maradona.

No footballer before and none after has taken an entire World Cup tournament and made it a spectacular testament to greatness like you did in WC86. Under intense scrutiny and attention from believers and doubters alike, you defined the beauty in the beautiful game. #Legend

...I liked him from 1986 until he caused us heartache in 1994, ever since, don't like anything Argies.
In fact I was sympathetic with Argentina during the Falkland war of 1982, but not any more.

[kalani JR]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

[Chimurenga Rebel]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Samora bhururu wangu tafambwa apa.

[Aswani]

An absolute legend, watching him him the 1986 world cup, anchored by Yinka Craig, was a complete joy.

He made football look so ridiculously easy.

The only person who I have bought two different autobiographies of. Some of the stories overlapped but it was still a joy re-reading them.

There were things in those book that were extremely inspiring.

Easily the GOAT, Pele nowhere close..

Ronaldo and Messi not even in the same ball park, let's see you do it under 80's hackathon condition boys.

[benteke]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe and the rest of Southern Africa is the land of shu shine football, silky ball control is a standard skill.
Benjani is not a true reflection of Zimbabwe

[Chimurenga Rebel]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe and the rest of Southern Africa is the land of shu shine football, silky ball control is a standard skill.
Benjani is not a true reflection of Zimbabwe

I doubt he has ever bothered to watch football from our part of the continent. The artists are revered in life and death. Some of them have spectacular nicknames.

Boy "The Menace" Ndlovu
Tauya " Flying Doctor" Murewa
Lawrence "Teacher" Waya
Peter "Nsukuzonke' Ndlovu
Eddie "Twinkle Toes" Katsvere (RIP)
Joel "The Headmaster" Shambo(RIP)
Moses "The Razorman" Chunga
Joe "Kode" Mugabe
Derby "Zambian" Mankinka (RIP)
John "Shoes" Moshoeu(RIP)
Doctor Khumalo


None of them would dare to track back but they where entertainers we would pay money just to see them warm up.

[theDunamis]

"It’s all about contingency and creation, creating in the midst of contingency. It’s about a certain relationship between a body in motion and a mind in a state of alert. That’s what fascinates me the most about football, the way in which 22 people attempt to inhabit a space they keep configuring and reconfiguring, erecting and erasing, and the explosions of primal joy when one’s team scores, or the primal screams when one’s team loses."

Thanks for sharing this awesome snippet, Goddess. This quote is a good definition of what football is and how it is played. By each individual player and also by the team -- contingency and creation.

I have always wondered what it is that made Maradona so good, so special. And I believe it is a combination of things that one could possibly find in isolation or sub-combinations in other players but never in total in any other:

1. A ball joggling skill of the highest order. It is no surprise that a young Maradona used to warm up the crowds with his incredible ball joggling skills. And while there are other individuals with ball joggling skills -- including non-footballers -- he matched this cardinal and foundational asset with other assets below to truly become one of a kind. His ability to speak to the ball in a language only very few others understood (Ronaldinho and Okocha among the few) much less dare to speak is undeniable by even his loudest critics.

2. The state of alertness of his mind. To have ball joggling skills is one thing. To be able to have a mind that sees spaces where others are blindsided, sees teammates coming from various geographies of the pitch, and to judge where the holy trinity of space, teammate and ball can and should meet in divine harmony, and to have the requisite inherent skill to execute it -- that is the true genius of this footballing mind and god.

3. But should teammate prove unwilling or unable to be where they need to be, this footballing genius was supremely capable of being a teammate unto himself and redefine the trinity -- on the go -- configuring and reconfiguring, erecting and erasing, Maradona + ball + space seamlessly morphs into space + ball + Maradona again.

4. The passion for the game and the hunger for victory. The latter sharpened over and over by the hate, derision and bewildering disrespect his humble roots invited from the ignorant and thoughtless. Yes, the "hand of God" goal was cheating and should not have counted. Yes, the performance enhancing drugs were against the rules of the game. But these tell a story of a kid and later man who wanted above all else to prove a point. That from the ruins, poverty and violence of Villa Fiorito could come that which deserved, demanded and eventually commanded the immense respect of the world. And to show that there more gems in those ruins and other ruins around the world.

Point conclusively proven, Diego Armando Maradona.

[kalani JR]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe and the rest of Southern Africa is the land of shu shine football, silky ball control is a standard skill.
Benjani is not a true reflection of Zimbabwe

I appreciate the Shibobo as much as the next man but Benjani is the reflection until a new master emerges.

[Comrade Machel]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Khama Billiat says you are lying. He is a trickster matching the best in Africa right now

[Comrade Machel]

If really upsets me to see donkeys like Rushford, Harry Kane etc wear the number 10 shirt It's a disrespect to people like Diego

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIFPaR_ZIo[/video]

...are you suggesting the number 10 shirt should be permanently retired, never to be a number on a football field

No I am not but it's an insult to see it worn by one trick ponies like Harry Kane

I propose a new rule. Unless you can juggle the ball in the air for some time, doing wizardry and dribble mercilessly then you shouldn't be allowed to wear the number 10 shirt

Wouldn't this ban the shirt from everyone in Zimbabwe?

Samora bhururu wangu tafambwa apa.

Vano wanza baba

[furiously frank]

"It’s all about contingency and creation, creating in the midst of contingency. It’s about a certain relationship between a body in motion and a mind in a state of alert. That’s what fascinates me the most about football, the way in which 22 people attempt to inhabit a space they keep configuring and reconfiguring, erecting and erasing, and the explosions of primal joy when one’s team scores, or the primal screams when one’s team loses."

Thanks for sharing this awesome snippet, Goddess. This quote is a good definition of what football is and how it is played. By each individual player and also by the team -- contingency and creation.

I have always wondered what it is that made Maradona so good, so special. And I believe it is a combination of things that one could possibly find in isolation or sub-combinations in other players but never in total in any other:

1. A ball joggling skill of the highest order. It is no surprise that a young Maradona used to warm up the crowds with his incredible ball joggling skills. And while there are other individuals with ball joggling skills -- including non-footballers -- he matched this cardinal and foundational asset with other assets below to truly become one of a kind. His ability to speak to the ball in a language only very few others understood (Ronaldinho and Okocha among the few) much less dare to speak is undeniable by even his loudest critics.

2. The state of alertness of his mind. To have ball joggling skills is one thing. To be able to have a mind that sees spaces where others are blindsided, sees teammates coming from various geographies of the pitch, and to judge where the holy trinity of space, teammate and ball can and should meet in divine harmony, and to have the requisite inherent skill to execute it -- that is the true genius of this footballing mind and god.

3. But should teammate prove unwilling or unable to be where they need to be, this footballing genius was supremely capable of being a teammate unto himself and redefine the trinity -- on the go -- configuring and reconfiguring, erecting and erasing, Maradona + ball + space seamlessly morphs into space + ball + Maradona again.

4. The passion for the game and the hunger for victory. The latter sharpened over and over by the hate, derision and bewildering disrespect his humble roots invited from the ignorant and thoughtless. Yes, the "hand of God" goal was cheating and should not have counted. Yes, the performance enhancing drugs were against the rules of the game. But these tell a story of a kid and later man who wanted above all else to prove a point. That from the ruins, poverty and violence of Villa Fiorito could come that which deserved, demanded and eventually commanded the immense respect of the world. And to show that there more gems in those ruins and other ruins around the world.

Point conclusively proven, Diego Armando Maradona.

I think # 4 says it all. He had an unquenchable passion for the game. When he sees leather, something in him wakes up. And he used his passion to help others fight their battle, (revenge against Falklands war to the Argiees and self worth for southern Italians in Napoli. Those who use their talents to rouse and help the underdogs often leave indelible marks than the clean cut Aristocrats who are in it for themselves only...cue Ronaldo, Messi, Michael Jordan etc. The only other person comparable to Diego is Muhammad Alli. They both had passion for their sports and use it to push boundaries even though their harmatta/flaws almost destroyed them

[theDunamis]

I think # 4 says it all. He had an unquenchable passion for the game. When he sees leather, something in him wakes up. And he used his passion to help others fight their battle, (revenge against Falklands war to the Argiees and self worth for southern Italians in Napoli. Those who use their talents to rouse and help the underdogs often leave indelible marks than the clean cut Aristocrats who are in it for themselves only...cue Ronaldo, Messi, Michael Jordan etc. The only other person comparable to Diego is Muhammad Alli. They both had passion for their sports and use it to push boundaries even though their harmatta/flaws almost destroyed them

Very well said, FF. That passion and the attachment of it to causes beyond the pitch makes him a beast on the field who wants to win at all cost. Because in his mind at least, it is always bigger than the 90 minutes.

[Otitokoro]

Lovely tribute to Diego
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hotCx3K0t6w[/video]