EN.PSG.FR

Maradona, a global icon

News

The world of football came to a standstill this Wednesday as the news of Diego Armando Maradona’s passing came through after suffering a fatal heart attack at the age of 60. During his amazing career the Argentine genius played at the Parc des Princes on three occasions, twice in friendlies against PSG.

He will be remembered as a true Napoli icon and a legend of Argentine football, though Maradona also spent time with Boca Juniors and FC Barcelona. Whether it was in his moments of genius or craziness Diego Maradona always epitomised both the beauty of the game and the love he had for it. Football fans from all over the world feel like they’ve lost one of their own. It’s a feeling we all share at Paris Saint-Germain. The President, the players and everyone involved with the club would like to pay tribute to the impact the “Pibe de Oro” has had on football’s history.

Paris Saint-Germain never came up against the Diego Maradona in an official encounter, where he always showed his fiercely competitive side. But he did step on to the Parc des Princes pitch three times. His first game there dates back to September 5 1981, in Jean-Pierre Tagliani and Jean-Louis Leonetti’s joint testimonial. Both men were stars of the Parisians’ promotion to the top flight in 1974. Maradona came as a Boca player and the way the match was billed said everything about the arrival of a prodigy who at the time was only 21 years old: “PSG face the Argentine league leaders Boca Juniors featuring Diego Maradona on French soil for the first time.”

Upon his arrival at the airport in Paris the Argentine would meet Michel Platini, who would soon become a rival in Italy when Napoli and Juventus would battle it out for the Serie A title. To be honest, the Parisian fans who paid a measly two francs (the equivalent of 0,7€ in 2020!) wouldn’t see the best of Maradona, who seemed to have come to Paris more for the Lido dancers than to light up the Parc. Nevertheless, Boca would end up winning the game 3-1 against Georges Peyroche’s PSG, with Daniel Sanchez scoring a consolation goal for the Rouge et Bleu.

The following year Maradona was back at the Parc des Princes for another friendly, this time wearing Barcelona’s colours. On November 13 1982, the 30 000 fans didn’t see a vintage performance either, but Maradona did notch a goal in a 4-1 win for the Catalan side. That finish was one of just 35 touches he had before being substituted on the hour mark to a round of boos.

Maradona would be back at the Parc des Princes in 1986 as he faced the French national team with his Argentina side in a friendly. Once again the Argentine star wasn’t at his best as Les Bleus beat the South American side (2-0). But Diego Maradona was focused on the bigger picture, and two months later in Mexico he led his Argentina side to a World Cup victory through sheer brilliance and a little bit of feistiness. Maradona had never quite got over the fact that he wasn’t in the squad when Argentina won the World Cup on home soil in 1978.

In each of his appearances at the Parc the fans would rather have seen a blistering Diego, of course. But it is what it is. At least he was there. He would make one final appearance at the stadium – as a fan – on January 4 1995, when he watched a Coupe de la Ligue match against Auxerre (1-0). On that night, the Argentine sat in the main stand with a PSG scarf round his neck… Having cancelled a meal to be there on the night he nevertheless arrived too late to kick the game off, much to the Parisian supporters’ disappointment.

Paris and the Parc have always loved players who saw football as an art form, and tonight they are mourning this footballing icon. The whole of the French capital is saddened not to have been able to welcome him to the Parc des Princes one last time to give him the Ballons d’or that his unforgettable career so richly deserved.*

 

*Up until a rule change in 1995, a player had to be playing his club football in Europe to be eligible for this prestigious individual award that has been handed out by France Football since 1956.