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The cult of Maradona runs strong in Naples, a year after his death
Diego is everywhere, from the central station all the way to the official Napoli store where his face stares out from the stylised fingerprint on the jersey in the window.
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A man holds a figure by Gennaro Di Virgilio depicting late Argentinian football legend Diego Armando Maradona in Via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of the Christmas cribs craftmen in Naples on November 23, 2021. (AFP/Carlo Hermann)
I
t is almost 30 years since Diego Maradona ended his remarkable playing spell at Napoli but a year on from his death at the age of 60 the Argentine great is as present as ever in the Neapolitan world.
His name is stitched on to shirts, daubed on the walls of the southern Italian city and etched into the hearts of the people, many of whom are too young to have ever seen him play.
And on Thursday, the first anniversary of his death, a bronze statue will be unveiled in front of the stadium which now bears his name -- Stadio Diego Armando Maradona -- to celebrate the "eternal" link with the "Pibe de Oro", the golden boy.
Diego is everywhere, from the central station all the way to the official Napoli store where his face stares out from the stylised fingerprint on the jersey in the window.
The shirt, worn by the Napoli players in November, is probably one of the last to be found in the city. Produced in limited numbers and sold for charity, these collector's edition jerseys have long sold out on the club's website.
For those who set sail for Naples in memory of Maradona, the first stop is often Mario Filardi's famous fresco in the Spanish Quarter painted in 1990 and restored in 2016.
It is a meandering walk from the ferry terminal and the wandering pilgrim is sure to pass other images painted on the walls as well as posters for the film The Hand of God, Paolo Sorrentino's homage to the Naples of the 1980s which is released this Wednesday in cinemas in Italy.
