From the very first minute of November 25, 2021, as the first year without Maradona on Earth began, Argentina... bent over Diego with absolute tenderness. With enormous, boundless love.
The Argentine soccer league, players, and various teams where he left his unique mark showed their absolute love for Diego. There is no doubt that they love him with all their hearts.
Maradona died just a year ago, but he is... alive.
The first messages began to be sent at 00:01 on Thursday in Argentina.
«We will miss you for the rest of our lives. You will live forever in every footballer. You are eternal,» wrote the Argentine league, posting a video with this unforgettable image of Maradona playing with a globe at San Paolo in Naples.
Messages from the players:
«Diego, we will always miss you,» said Gabriel Florentin of Argentinos Juniors. «Diego, we will never forget you,» assured Agustín Almentra from Boca Juniors. «Diego, your football lives on,» concluded Maximiliano Rodríguez from Newell's.
Clubs« tributes: »He has passed into eternity. Diego Armando Maradona 10. Eternal Diego,« wrote Argentinos Juniors, while Boca said: »You never left. You are in the heart of every fan. Eternal Diego.".
Newell's Old Boys concluded: «We will always miss you. Eternal Diego.» Gimnasia La Plata also remembered him: «We miss you very much, Diego.».
A year after his death from a heart attack, defeated by excesses and addictions, the Argentine idol never ceased to receive honors.
In Argentina, statues, monuments, and dozens of murals have been on display for a year now in several cities across the country and in working-class neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. The tributes culminated on October 30, 61 years after his birth.
Dalma, Maradona's second daughter (34), said she was grateful for these tributes, but did not want to participate because this November 25 marks «the worst day of her life,» a day «should not be commemorated or celebrated.»
So perhaps La Nacion was not wrong when it wrote: «A year after his death, Diego, the creator of happiness, also continues to cause pain.».
Maradona monument on the riverbank with free access
«Today, one of your last wishes is beginning to come true...».
Exactly one year after Maradona's death, the famous Argentine's Instagram account (managed by his children) posted a message with a special request: to create a memorial in the city of Buenos Aires so that fans would have a place to go to express their love for Diego.
Since November 25 last year, Maradona's fans have had nowhere to go to remember their idol, nowhere to leave something to thank him for what he did. His remains are buried in a private cemetery in Bella Vista, which is not accessible to anyone other than his family or friends.
That is why Diego's children submitted this request to the Legislative Assembly of the City of Buenos Aires.
The published text, signed by Sebastián Balieto (administrator of the legacy of the 1986 World Cup champion in Mexico), refers to «the necessary means to enable the promotion and positioning of the Maradona Monument.».
«A place of eternal rest where anyone can visit and receive the recognition and love of millions of people who express it daily through various media,» the statement added.
«It will be a place of free access, worship, and encounter with nature on the banks of the river. A year after his death and the deep sorrow caused by his loss, his heirs wish to honor him,» concludes the text published today.
A. Vazogiannis
