on November 10, 2001, the Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires said goodbye to its greatest master, that is Diego Armando Maradona. It’s the day the Pibe de Oro, forty-one year old, says goodbye to football. The ball had probably said goodbye to him much earlier, given that he is fat and not well at all, at the mercy of his addictions. In addition to being a refugee in Cuba to try to get treatment, even if the second part of the sentence really seems like a euphemism.
And we play. Argentina against the Rest of the World. On the other side of the fence there are iconic footballers, such as Juan Sebastian Veron, Enzo Francescoli, Hristo Stoichkov, René Higuita, Carlos Valderrama, Eric Cantona. Players who went beyond football, but who were generational talents also lent to politics and extravagant behavior. The event is broadcast by Stream, but many venues equip themselves with pirated TV. Maradona already has heart problems and had gone to greet Carlos Menem, former president of Argentina and River Plate fan, some time before, in a Bin Laden disguise. It was only a few days after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, not a good joke.
The match ends 6-3, with Maradona as the protagonist despite his physical condition no longer helping him. Claudio Lopez scores immediately, Davor Super equalizes. Then Aimar scores the lead with an assist from Diego who, for his part, then goes to the spot to make it 3-1, arguing with Higuita: celebration in a Boca shirt under that of Argentina. Then Castroman, Aimar and Maradona again, again on a penalty, while Cantona and Higuita signed the final result.