There Will Never Be Another Maradona
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Diego Maradona, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, passed away last week from a heart attack at the age of 60. It's possible that no athlete is more loved by his home country or more symbolic of its hopes and dreams than Maradona and Argentina -- and yet the diminutive playmaker also developed his fair share of critics. The Athletic’s Ed Malyon, who got his start as a football journalist in Argentina, joins us to discuss why Maradona is such a transcendent figure there, and why we will never see someone quite like him again.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the lead, add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:12.0 | I think I saw him first time when he was 16-17 in any video, juggling the ball. |
| 0:17.0 | From that moment on, he was the player for me. |
| 0:21.0 | Last week, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, Diego Maradona, passed away at age 60, |
| 0:29.0 | and the tributes from the soccer world continue to pour in. |
| 0:33.0 | No matter what you have done with your life, Diego, if you have done what you have done for our lives. |
| 0:38.0 | He was the Michelangelo of the beautiful game. The football pitchers is canvas and the ball at his beat, |
| 0:43.0 | a medium of artistic expression that was unlike any other. |
| 0:47.0 | Today, the athletics Ed Malien, who got his start as a football journalist in Argentina, |
| 0:53.0 | on why Maradona is such a transcendent figure there, and why there will never be someone quite like him again. |
| 0:59.0 | I really just really hope we can see someone who plays football with that level of talent and that level of art. |
| 1:05.0 | I just don't know if we're ever going to see the storyline that almost Hollywood made true of his existence. |
| 1:11.0 | From Wondering in the Athletic, I'm under Skelto. |
| 1:14.0 | And I'm Kobytha Davidson. It's Tuesday, December 1st, and this is The Lead. |
| 1:25.0 | So Ed, we've seen this incredible outpouring of support for Diego Maradona since he passed away last week. |
| 1:30.0 | Thousands of people aligning up to say goodbye to Diego Maradona. They're filing past the coffin and coming out on the other side crying. |
| 1:37.0 | The country declared three days of national mourning. |
| 1:39.0 | There were massive crowds showing up to see his body at the National Palace in Buenos Aires. |
| 1:44.0 | By my reckoning, there are about 11 blocks, maybe about a mile to get from here to get to the coffin of Maradona. |
| 1:50.0 | And I'm not sure if people here in the US really understand how massive of a figure Diego Maradona is in Argentina. |
| 1:57.0 | How do you try to explain that to people? |
| 2:00.0 | Well, I've been trying to explain it this week to Americans. |
... |
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