What Eintracht Frankfurt fans miss in Naples

Saint Maradona and his heirs: Naples lives for its football club like few other cities in Europe. A walk ahead of the Champions League second leg makes it clear why.

In today’s hyper-modern, high-gloss football, SSC Napoli stands out pleasantly at times. For example, there is this moment before the league games at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where a hit from the 1980s thunders from the loudspeakers. “Live is life” by the Austrian band Opus is a very special anthem for the Neapolitans. Less because she appeals to the power of togetherness and a carefree life with rudimentary verbal effort, but because these sounds are reminiscent of a famous iconic moment of the city’s largest adopted son from 1989.

The moment when Diego Armando Maradona, then a football player, no saint, put on an unforgettable show during the warm-up. Not in Naples, but in Munich’s Olympic Stadium, before the UEFA Cup semifinals against Bayern. With his laces open, the Argentinian let himself and the tango ball dance on all parts of his body, to the rhythm of “Live is life”, which was playing everywhere from the loudspeakers at the time. When Neapolitans are sad, they watch the corresponding video on Youtube. Football is pastoral care in Naples, there is no doubt about that even today.