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Stunned Argentines were plunged into grief Wednesday by the death of the country’s favorite son Diego Maradona, a sublimely gifted sporting hero they saw as “the most human of gods.”
The news fell like a hammer blow a nation beaten down by months of economic crisis and the health pandemic, but one where soccer is seen as a panacea for all ills.
Fans searching for a place to grieve gravitated towards the Obelisk landmark in the center of Buenos Aires — and, of course, the Bombonera, the steep-sided cauldron of a stadium that is home to Boca Juniors, where Maradona’s genius was forged.
“I can’t believe it. It’s incredible. One thinks one gets through any storm, but no, everyone ends up being mortal. It feels like a bad dream. A joke,” Francisco Salaverry, 28, told AFP.
“Today’s a bad day. A very sad day for all Argentines,” President Alberto Fernandez summed up in an interview with sports channel TyC, after declaring three days of national mourning.
All around the city, the mourning had already begun as fans stood forlornly beside banners in homage to the Number 10, showing Maradona — who died aged 60 of a heart attack — in his dashing prime.
Many of the banners simply said D10S, a play on the Spanish word “Dios” for “God” that includes Maradona’s jersey number.
– ‘Wandering, Dirty, And Sinful god’ –
If soccer is a religion in Argentina, then Maradona really was its god — especially for the founders of the Maradonian Church, a mostly internet-based group that uses religious language to venerate the player.
The “Church” called on fans to gather in his honor at the Obelisk at 6:00 pm (2100 GMT), a traditional rallying point in central Buenos Aires for soccer celebrations.
“I prefer not to speak. I’m going to the Obelisk today,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, a fan who gave himself a tattoo of his idol on October 30th to celebrate Maradona’s 60th birthday.
