SEBASTIÁN CHITTADINI he had the intention of reconstructing in a journalistic note the frustrated pass from Diego Maradona to Rayo Vallecano in 1996. In his exhaustive search he came across another story: the negotiation of number 10 with Arsenal of England in 1982, frustrated by the Malvinas War.
Cs often happens, a more ambitious project arose from a small idea that led to “The Diegos that were not”, the book that proposes a tour of those teams that wanted to have the best player of all time with their shirt.
The art of Pablo Falbi on the cover of “Los Diegos que no fueran”
“Diego was many Diegos and lived many lives, but for each one that was, there were several more that were not.”
Hcough “Diegos that were not” before his debut and after his retirement. With journalistic rigor, the meticulous reconstruction includes the adventure of 37 teams that dreamed of having the 10 in their ranks for 5 decades in 12 countries and 3 continents.
Ehe common thread is the clubs that dreamed of Maradona in their proper context, with unprecedented details, picturesque details and curious facts. The revelation that the origin of the last name Maradona is Galician and not Italian as is believed, the almost coincidence in a club with Johan Cruyff and the recital of Raffaela Carra in Rosario to cover the costs of the transfer to Rosario Central are some of the minimal stories that can be read throughout the 175 pages that make up the masterful work.
Sebastián Chittadini, Uruguayan by blood and Maradona by law
Dieguito, Maradona, El Diego, Diegote. Since 1976, when he was 15 years old and had not yet debuted in the First Division but he was already famous for his adventures in the Cebollitas and he loved him Zaragoza because an important man from the Spanish club saw his magic with the ball at an Argentinos halftime. Until 2014, 17 years after his retirement, when Deportivo Riestrathen in the First D, asked the AFA for authorization to sign Diego for some matches, in an initiative that soon gained a place in the media agenda and transcended internationally, although later there were those who denied it.
Chittadini’s life is crossed by Diego Maradona. Uruguayan by blood and Maradona by law, he witnessed the devotion of the Argentines days after the conquest in Mexico in 1986 on an exchange trip to Buenos Aires with his school, when he was 9 years old. His Ciudad de la Costa, in the Department of Canelones, was invaded by the presence of the 10 back in 1993, with an informal chopped on the fields that Diego Forlán’s father had, in a gesture of support for Uruguay, who wandered in the Playoffs.
“People are what we think of ourselves, what others think and what we really are. Maradona was all of those, but also what those who loved and hated him attributed to him.”concludes Víctor Hugo Morales in the epilogue.
The epilogue of “Los Diegos que no fueran”, by Víctor Hugo Morales
Time travel is inexhaustible and eternal, like Maradona. “Fate has as many twists and turns as the most unpredictable player”says Chittadini in a passage. “Life is full of disagreements and things that happen at the wrong time”reinforce later.
Cwhere the question “what would have happened if…?” repicating on all its pages, “The Diegos that were not” They show that there are still questions to investigate in the work of the player of all time.
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