The End of an Era

Maradona’s stock had declined sharply as a result of his divorce from Napoli. Big clubs were not so sure about whether his pros still outweighed the cons. That said, the little number ten still gained interest from Real Madrid and Marseille. His preferred choice was to return to his beloved Boca Juniors, but the Buenos Aires club could not afford his wages. Eventually he settled for Sevilla back in La Liga and started the 1992 season on the Spanish south coast.

Sevilla had not featured in La Liga’s top four for the past 20 years. Their future looked bright, however, with the emergence of such stars as Argentinian Diego Simeone and the clever Croatian, Davor Suker. Moreover, the club manager was Carlos Bilardo, who guided Argentina to World Cup success in 1986 with Maradona as his captain.

It seemed like the perfect match and his impact was immediate off the pitch where club membership jumped from 26,000 to 40,000 and an extra £2.5 million was received in ticket sales. Bilardo made him club captain and on his debut it was his assist that led to Sevilla’s goal in a defeat at Bilbao. On his home debut it was his penalty that beat Real Zaragoza although it was his juggling with a tin foil wrapper on the pitch that the fans remember more. The fans at first loved him. His teammates even more.

The club, under an agreement with FIFA that released him from Napoli, played in many friendlies during the season which served up as showcases for Maradona. These included Bayern Munich, Paul Gascoigne’s Lazio, Porto, Galatasaray and even Boca Juniors, where his return was greeted with much fanfare.

It would all go sour, however, after Maradona was recalled to the national side and disobeyed club orders about playing in just one of two key internationals against Brazil and Denmark because Sevilla faced Logrones. He defied orders, played in both and put in a lacklustre display against Logrones as a result. His relationship with the board never recovered as his off-field excesses continued in the Andalusian city.

Now two stone overweight he began to miss training and was caught speeding by the local police. The final straw came when Maradona was substituted by Bilardo early in the second half in his final home game of the season, a 1-1 draw against Burgos. The manager was on the receiving end of a volley of abuse.

Maradona’s time at Sevilla was at an end. In 26 games he scored 5 goals, but it has very much become a forgotten season in the number ten’s stellar career. The club finished 7th in La Liga, an improvement of five places from the season before, but in September, 1993, the man they hoped would emulate Napoli left.

He returned to Argentina and to Newell’s Old Boys, a team based in Rosario in Santa Fe, but that would prove short-lived, playing just seven times in total, and five in the professional league. One moment alone stands out from this short spell. On his debut, a friendly against Ecuadorian side Emelec, he scored his only goal for the club, a shot that smashed into the top corner of the net. In the crowd that day was a six-year-old boy with his father who would never forget that match. His name was Lionel Messi.

After initial success then further ignominy at the 1994 World Cup that ended when he was sent home for failing a drug test, Maradona finally returned ‘home’ to Boca Juniors to see out his final two years of playing.

On his second home debut, 14 years after his first, he was received with fireworks and wild celebrations inside a Bombonera Stadium bouncing with fans ecstatic to welcome their hero home. Boca would beat Colon 1-0.

Ironically, he would begin his final season in better shape than he had been for many years. He scored a penalty in a 4-2 win over Argentinos Juniors and, in his last game before retirement, he helped Boca to a 2-1 win away at arch-rivals River Plate. He played 30 times for Boca in this second stint and scored seven goals.

At the age of 37 it seemed as good a time as any to announce, on his birthday, his retirement as a player. It ended one of the most remarkable careers ever witnessed in the beautiful game.

The Endof an Era

The End
of an Era