The death of Diego Armando Maradona (Lanús, 1960) has shocked the world. His legacy goes far beyond sports. Considered one of the best players of all time, he was known in every corner of the planet and has been a benchmark for later generations. The news has changed the headlines of all the media worldwide, not just sports. The press opens its web portals with the death of the Argentine legend and dedicates moving messages in tribute to his figure. Here are some of them:
Argentina
The legend's native country has decreed three days of official mourning after his death. Clarín was the first medium to announce his death and he already fills his cover with the reactions of the football world. Its headline speaks of the shock that Maradona's goodbye has meant: “World upheaval: Diego Maradona died.” This is how the Argentine media narrates it: “It is an emotional and national slap. A blow that reverberates in all latitudes. A worldwide impact. A news that marks a hinge in history. (…) And Maradona is in the present despite the fact that those who die have to write in the past“. To close the information, they remember a message that was sent Diego himself for the day of his death: “Thank you for having played soccer, thank you for having played soccer, because it is the sport that gave me the most joy, the most freedom, it is like touching the sky with my hands. Thanks to the ball. Yes, I would put a tombstone that says : thanks to the ball “.
The cover of Clarín.
El Diario Olé has also transformed its cover to expose in large models the death of one of the best ever. “Diego left us and he took soccer with him. Because nothing will be the same. Never more. The death of Pelusa marks a before and after. And the blow resounds in all latitudes. He represented us not only on the field but also outside of it, where he was always authentic, with his virtues and his defects, but always being Maradona, “writes the Argentine newspaper in its opening news. They also remember the World Cup in Mexico 86 and the world's reactions to his departure.
La Nación, non-sports generalist media, put aside the political and economic news to give all the space to 'Fluff'. In addition to the information on his death, they dedicate an obituary to him entitled “the best artist with the ball and the most sensitive for the fan” and a photo gallery: “Maradona forever.” Claudio Mauri thus narrates the impact of his loss: “The cult of a personality is a declining religion in postmodernity. Maradona is one of those exceptions, the repository of fervor and a passion with mystical connotations. His death stops a mind-boggling whirlwind of events, of an existence that radiated to the ends of the planet. Being Diego Armando Maradona was something unique, incomparable, inimitable, non-transferable, blessed and defenestrated. Virtuous and addicted. Endearing and quarrelsome“.
The cover of Olé.
Página 12, another generalist communication medium, is also shocked by the death of '10'. They dedicate a photo gallery of the 60 photos that have marked his life. Along the same lines, the Diario Tiempo shows its sadness at what happened and recovers some of the comments that were made on its website when Diego Armando Maradona turned 60 years old: “Although reality seems to say otherwise, the legend of Diego Maradona remains varnished with an eternal youth; its thousands of faces, none similar to the other, each as a representation of a time. His own, but especially the collective. His name makes up the unattainable myth of Argentina. There is nothing like Maradona, nothing that competes with his dimension. Nothing ends up totalizing it, as if there were no single work that contains it. “
Brazil
For many years, Argentina and Brazil starred in high-altitude duels with Maradona as one of those involved. There they know well what Diego meant in the world of football, rivalries aside. Globoesporte, for example, titled “the goodbye of a genius”, “Maradona leaves a mark” or share the photo with Pele playing the guitar. This is how they remember his legacy: “His brilliant plays, with great speed and dexterity with the 10 jersey, earned him the position of greatest idol in the history of Argentine football, a reason for passion on the part of the fans of all clubs. Called” God “for the fans, Maradona has always caused a stir in a people passionate about sports, which insisted on pointing out him as the best player in history, in a rivalry with the Brazilian Pele “.
O Globo, in the same vein, monopolizes the top of its cover with the news. The headline that has four columns on his portal elevates him as a historical figure: “Diego Maradona, soccer genius, dies at 60”. He also remembers the times he was close to playing in Brazil and recovers a video in which Zico considers him better than Pelé, the Brazilian legend. His obituary is only for users with subscription. Another case in which it is evident that the impact of the news goes far beyond sports. The generalist media Meiahora and Extra open with the death of '10'. The first of them considers “mourning in football”.
England
For years the image of Maradona dribbling five English footballers starting from the center of the field to finish scoring has been frequent on television and social networks. That historic goal was achieved in the final four of the World Cup in Mexico 86 against the England team. In the UK, they know first-hand what it was like to suffer the best Diego in action. Today, they remember that feat as if they had been the victors. Perhaps because that day it was soccer that won. Media such as The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Times or Independent dedicate their generalist headline to the death of '10' and they dedicate loving words to him.
The Sun defines him as someone “touched by God”. “For those of us who were fortunate enough to witness him in his prime, none of his flaws can detract from his being a genius,” he writes. In the same vein the Daily Mail: “However, it was that low center of gravity that blessed Diego Armando with a remarkable dexterity in turning and accelerating with the ball. It was that ability to produce magical abilities at an electrifying rate, especially in the death zone around the goal., which still distinguishes Maradona even from the sublime tastes of Zidane, Ronaldo, Cruyff, Platini and all the other Pelé apostles. “