A series of provocative, moving and illuminating interviews with
(arguably) the greatest soccer player ever...
Diego Armando Maradona's death on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60,
was a death that had been foretold many times. Even when he was alive
accounts of his life had a tragic register, of the kid from the slums
whose magical talent on the soccer field was squandered by drug
addiction.
But his death allowed millions of people to ponder both the tragedy and
triumph of his life, of a man who was arguably the world's greatest
soccer player, who was also a champion for the world's poor. Adorned in
the talismanic number 10 shirt that Maradona made his own while playing
Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli and Argentina, hundreds of thousands
flocked to the presidential palace in Buenos Aires to pay their last
respects; millions around the world were similarly moved, creating
makeshift altars and murals in his honor. Vatican News called him
"soccer's poet."
The interviews collected in Diego Maradona: The Last Interview span
the breadth of his life and career as a player, coach, and public
figure, providing a panoramic and extremely candid accounting of his
rollercoaster life, many translated into English for the first time.
Included in the book are encounters with Pele and Gary Lineker, who
Maradona played against in the 1986 England-Argentina game that sent
shockwaves around the world. The book also features his reflections on
his stuggles with drug addiction, the highs and low of his experience
playing for Napoli, his strong views on Lionel Messi, the governance of
world soccer, and his worries about the impact of Covid on the world's
poor.
Maradona: The Last Interview is a fitting tribute to a complicated and
brilliant soccer player who moved the world and changed the game of
soccer forever.
Introduction by Roger Bennett, the co-host of Peacock's Men in Blazers
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