Date:08/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/08/stories/2008120856421600.htm

Sport - Football

Maradona magic on show

Principal Correspondent

Football clinic for kids cancelled
A seven-minute display of skills instead

KOLKATA: Diego Maradona still prefers to do that which has bestowed on him the status of a god — showing off his skills with the football.

On his maiden visit to India, Maradona reminded the soccer-crazy city of Kolkata why he is worshiped the world over. Making his last public appearance on the concluding day of his two-day trip, Maradona put on display his magical abilities at the Mohun Bagan ground on Sunday.

Spell-bound crowd

The maverick genius of soccer enthralled the nearly 10,000 people thronging the galleries of the 119-year-old club with some sublime jugglery with the ball. This performance lasting seven minutes eternalised an evening for those who had trooped in to have a look at the most enigmatic character of soccer. The surge of emotions sparked by the Maradona show washed away the dejection of the proposed football clinic being scrapped.

The original schedule devoted the balmy Sunday afternoon to a football clinic that Maradona was supposed to conduct for the kids of the academies of Mohun Bagan and its sister club, Bhowanipur. In the end what the organiser proposed, the ‘God’ disposed. He apparently did not wish to the part with his limited experience as a coach, which was barely a friendly (against Scotland) old.

‘No sofas please’ seemed to be the body language of the superstar of soccer, who made a dash for the ground on entering the club’s premises. He skipped the formality of hobnobbing with the glitterati from the world of culture and sports at the ornately set chief guest’s dais. Instead he went and shook hands with the sub-junior players lined up for a friendly match in his honour.

Bag of tricks

As a player smartly passed a ball towards him, Maradona tapped it up in the air and sent it flying into the stands. One, two, three … 19, 20 … the count continued as the little magician of soccer opened his bag of tricks, juggling the ball with consummate ease and sending it into the crowd in every direction. In no time all the balls available on the ground were dispatched into the stands by the magical left foot.

No more balls, no reason to stay back. Maradona sprinted out of the venue with his security men in tow leaving the organisers bemused at the twist in the tale.

The football clinic had turned into a show of Maradona magic.