Diego: The Last Goodbye (2021) - full transcript

"THERE IS NO EASY WAY FROM
THE EARTH TO THE STARS."

SENECA

When you're high, high, high, high,

there's no pressurization up there,

and not many of us get there.

That's why they can talk a lot about me,

but nobody was up there with me.

There's loneliness, there's cold,

but there's also

a heart that beats much faster

for having done things well.



SAN ANDRÉS GATED COMMUNITY
TIGRE, NORTH OF BUENOS AIRES

The night before I asked him

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

He answered "Chamita, let me rest."

He gave me a kiss and I left,

without thinking what was
going to happen the next day.

I saw him for the last time

when I brought him some sandwiches.

He was lying down and that's
the last time I saw him.

If I had known

that was his last night,
I wouldn't have let him sleep.

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

JULIO CORIA "CHAMA" MARADONA'S BODYGUARD

At 6:30 the nurses were changing shifts,



so I used that opportunity
to take a shower.

We got to his bedroom's door.

We called him, he didn't answer.

He was half covered, face up.

It looked as if he was sleeping.

When I go down, the only thing
I hear is "He's non responsive."

The nurse came in to do CPR.

Was it five minutes, ten
minutes, half an hour?

I have no idea. For me it was an eternity.

It was hell. I thought
he was going to wake up.

ROMINA RODRÍGUEZ "MONONA" COOK

Even now I think I hear
his voice: "Monona!"

I was getting ready to go to work

and I received a call from
the community's security,

and they ask me if I can
go see Diego Maradona.

They told me that he had become unbalanced,

that they had already called an ambulance

and if I could go see him.

I go in through the right side
of the house, through a gate,

and when I entered the
kitchen I saw the maid.

They were very nervous, very desperate

for me to come in and see what I could do.

When I entered the room,

I saw Diego on the left side of the bed,

he seemed to be sleeping,

and his bodyguard was giving
him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

and the nurse was on the bed
doing chest compressions.

I tried to look for vital signs

and I noticed that his body temperature

was well below normal.

There are five ambulances.

Something happened to him.

Six!

Eighth ambulance.

Something happened to Diego.

When the first ambulance arrived,

it was at that moment that we
really, for the first time,

had the elements to be able
to do something for Diego.

The nurse came down

with a briefcase with medication,

we moved the bed to be able to
have an access to the airway,

he put the defibrillator to
see if there was any type

of electrical activity in the heart.

A female doctor caught my attention

that all she did was go
in and out of the room

shouting "Come on, Diego, come on, Diego!"

At that moment we looked at each other

and all it took was a look and a gesture

to realize that Diego was no longer alive.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

14 MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH

GIMNASIA Y ESGRIMA LA PLATA STADIUM

THE HEART DOESN'T UNDERSTAND REASON

AFTER 8 YEARS OUT OF THE
COUNTRY DIEGO MARADONA RETURNS

AND TAKES OVER AS COACH OF
GIMNASIA Y ESGRIMA LA PLATA,

A TEAM ABOUT TO BE RELEGATED.

I think that going back to
work and being on a field

was the best thing that
could happen to him.

Diego's appearance as
coach caused a revolution

in Argentina's football and the world.

He was very excited because...

DANIEL LÓPEZ MARADONA DIEGO'S NEPHEW

At least when we were in Mexico,

he said to me "Do people in
Argentina still love me?"

I think he was the only one who could

lift the situation Gimnasia was in.

A very difficult situation,
fighting the relegation,

and the team as a group
was bad, mentally down.

I'm not a magician.

I like to work,

as I've done all my life.

So nervous! I'm Eva Pardo.

I'm the official photographer

of the Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata team.

He was very excited and very
touched, as we all were.

He was coming from his knee recovery

and it was difficult for him to walk.

We thought that the
presentation was going to last

five or ten minutes, which
was what we had scheduled,

but an hour passed,

an hour and 15 minutes
and he was still there.

From very early on we
were in the locker room

waiting for Diego,

until he came to me and
hugged me and told me:

"Don't worry, we're going
to move forward together.

I need to be inside a field."

Returning to Argentina

and returning to train
in the First Division,

with "the smell of
grass", as he used to say.

STEFANO CECI FRIEND AND MANAGER

That made him happy, plus,
he found a good atmosphere.

I saw Gimnasia as a little Napoli.

NAPLES, ITALY

We've gone to great lengths to have you!

Oh, mama, mama, mama!

Maradona is better than Pelé!

My heart is beating, I've seen Maradona

There's only one Maradona

And, mom, I am in love!

When the Napoli bus arrived,

everyone looked to see if Diego was there,

because if Diego was
there, Napoli would win.

So when we saw him get off the bus...
"We won!"

Go, Diego!

In Diego's presentation in "El Bosque",

there was a flag that had his parents,

La Tota and Don Diego, and it said:

"Pelu, when you're down,
go where you are loved."

I learned from my parents

that you should never forget
what you went through.

Everything gives you
experience to face life.

So we can't forget what we went through,

all my dad's effort,

he got up at 3 a.m. to go to work,

he came home without sleeping
and took me to training.

Material things can help,

but what Mom and Dad taught us at that time

was all with love.

That's why we are like this,

that's why Mom is proud
of the children she has.

VILLA FIORITO LANÚS, SOUTH OF BUENOS AIRES

I'm the oldest. Kitty, Lily, Mary, Diego.

ANA MARADONA DIEGO'S SISTER

Lalo, Hugo and Claudia.

In Fiorito they were a very united family,

everyone pulled together to the same side,

trying to get out of that situation.

My grandfather worked in
the factory, Tritumol.

The only one who supported
the family was him.

Sometimes we brought him
food and we had to walk a lot

because from home it was

over half a mile to Tritumol.

TRITUMOL BONE GRINDER VILLA FIORITO

There were times when they would
give him milk in the factory,

but he wouldn't drink it, he gave it to us.

He used to say "No, I'm
not going to drink it",

I'll take it to the kids."

One day I don't remember
what mess I had gotten into,

and my old man was waiting
for me at the door.

"Come in," he tells me, and
he had a branch in his hand.

I tell him "You're going to hit me, dad."

"No, no, no, come in. You come in."

So I always say that's where I started

to score the goal against the English,

because of the feints
that I made to my old man,

because I tired my old man.

When I saw the opportunity,
"bang", I got in.

He landed one hit
sometimes, but it was one.

Sure, he gave me a smack
and he threw me 80 feet.

I'll never forget in my
life, my mother said to him:

"You touch my son again"

and tonight, when you fall asleep,

"I'll put a knife through your heart."

Good, skinny! Good, skinny!
Move it, move it! Move!

He had a vision with players that were not

taken into account and he empowered them.

- You look fit.
-Yes? I'm old!

I'm Eric Ramírez and I'm a football player.

My nickname is "Pearl".

I wasn't playing very much.

I was neither training
nor in the bench, nothing.

ESTANCIA CHICA - GIMNASIA
Y ESGRIMA LA PLATA TRAINING

When Diego arrives, before
traveling to Mar del Plata,

he tells me: "Look, Perla,
you're going to play",

so make use of it and
I'll always support you."

A boy from a humble family,
who fought out there,

just like Diego, who also
fought since he was a child.

Being something similar,
I think it comforts him.

He always wanted to win.
We always started winning,

they tied us and sometimes
we lost the game.

So that pissed him off a bit,
not keeping up the result.

Nobody bet a dime on Gimnasia,

everybody thought we would be relegated.

The only one who bet for us was Diego.

Gimnasia needed to win, we
needed to add three points.

Gimnasia believes in miracles.

Ramirez hit it, it diverted on top.
Maradona's Gimnasia.

Gimnasia in the lead in Avellaneda.

Diego got crazy, he got inside
the field screaming the goal.

When I left he congratulated me,

he gave me a hug that I'll never forget.

It was totally crazy,

obviously with Diego at the
head of all those celebrations.

Traveling through the
interior of the country

where he played was beautiful

because people went crazy
with Diego's presence.

It was seeing people in airports,

people who followed the bus,
in the hotel, everywhere.

Seeing people cry, people with kids,

people with signs, people waiting for him.

LONG LIVE THE KING

On the Newell's field, I think it's one

of the times where I was most moved,

because people were crying, crying,

people hugging, people were very moved.

All those tributes, without a doubt,

was what he deserved.

It was the tribute that Argentine football

wanted to pay to the best
player in our history.

AVELLANEDA - TRIBUTE
FROM INDEPENDIENTE CLUB

CÓRDOBA TRIBUTE FROM TALLERES CLUB

BUENOS AIRES - TRIBUTE
FROM BOCA JUNIORS CLUB

MARCH 20, 20206 MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH

We have made the decision
in the National Government

to issue a decree of necessity and urgency.

ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

By this decree, all of Argentina

must comply with the preventive

and compulsory social isolation.

No one can leave their residence.

Everyone has to stay at home.

Hi there. Romina Rodríguez,
"Monona", unemployed.

I started going to Diego's.
I went to cook, I served him.

I had no intention of meeting him.

I had a bad image of him.

I didn't want to go near him.

And he said "I want that
chubby girl to come with me."

That's how it started.

CAMPOS DE ROCA GATED COMMUNITY BRANDSEN

During the lockdown they told
me to stay as a live-in maid.

He named me "Monona",

he named Julio, the security
boy, "Chama", for chamamé.

One day he was calling
everyone and no one heard him

and he yelled "Chamamé!"

Everything could be fine
and then he would get angry

and tell you "Go away, shut up",

and didn't want to talk to anyone.

And no one spoke.

And one day I was doing the laundry outside

and he called me and I didn't hear him.

So he said: "Grab your things,
Monona, and walk away."

He thought that I wasn't going
to leave, like everyone else.

I knocked on the door and said: "Well",

it's been a pleasure working with you.
I'm leaving now."

And he says to me "Where are you going?",

I answered "Didn't you tell me to go?",

"Yes, yes, but you are going
to leave at the time I want."

The next day I came down
with my bag and my things,

and he looks at me and says:
"Hello, Monona, my dear!"

I remained serious and
said "But you fired me."

"Yes, but that was yesterday,
today is another day.

You're not fired anymore,
today you're here."

"The next time you fire me,

I'll go and you'll never see me again."

"No, Monona, I won't fire
you anymore," he told me.

And he never did.

But he was always firing everyone.

When I found out about the lockdown,

I got really worried about Diego,

because I thought "Now Diego
isn't going to come out anymore"

and on top of that no
one could go to see him,

no one could go in to be with him.

We made video calls, he
called me on the phone.

He needed to see us, he
wanted to make a barbecue

and we didn't want to because
we wanted to take care of him.

We didn't want it to be our fault

that we brought the COVID to his house.

I think it was a hard blow for him too,

because he needed to train,
he needed the motivation.

Being alone used to kill him.

I spent more time with Diego
than with my real brothers.

My daughters were born and I wasn't there.

My father passed away and I wasn't there.

Where was I? I was with Diego.

His fear was being alone.

His alcohol issue was according
to how he was at that moment.

When he was angry or
lovesick it was one thing,

and when he was happy it was another.

When he was in a bad
mood, he started to drink,

but he also had the gastric bypass problem.

Diego had a beer and it was three beers,

so when he had four or five,

it was 10, 15, so, in 20
minutes he was already...

He never stopped drinking.

And he really suffered

his children's detachment.

He wanted to have everyone together.

At one point he told me:

"Matito, I can't stand it anymore."

In fact, he was so bad that
I took him to a therapist.

Hi, how are you? Carlos
Díaz, I'm a therapist

specialized in treating
substance use and addictions.

The first time was four days

before his 60th birthday.

And they suggested me that I used the words

"psychiatrist" or "therapist"
as little as possible

because of the previous
experiences that Maradona had.

Deception is a terrible starting point.

A therapist can never agree
to not saying what he's doing.

OCTOBER 30, 202026 DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH

It had been a difficult week,

nobody knew if Diego was going
to be able to be present,

the match was on the day of his birthday,

the day the championship started again.

When I saw him appear,
it really surprised me,

it was kind of a shock, right?

Happy birthday, Diego!

The tripero town greets you.

He was very deteriorated.

Whenever we saw him like that, it hurt us.

So when he got closer, so
I could take his picture,

I said to him: "Happy birthday, Diego."

Happy birthday, Diego!

Hi there.

Happy Birthday!

He didn't answer me or anything.
It seemed like he wasn't there.

And that was the last time I saw him.

We were about to enter the field
and he asked us to forgive him.

"Sorry, I'm going to recover
to come back stronger for you."

The saddest moment in Diego's life.

RICARDO GIUSTI WORLD CHAMPION MEXICO 1986

It's incredible that they
exposed him that way.

Seeing someone you love so deeply

in a situation you don't
want to see them in...

I think that was a sad day for everyone.

Diego's appearance was not only painful,

but it also forces us to ask ourselves

"All those people who said they loved him,

did they love him?"

NOVEMBER 3, 202022 DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH

DIEGO MARADONA UNDERGOES SURGERY

FOR A SUBDURAL HEMATOMA ON THE HEAD.

DURING THE POST-OP PERIOD

HE SUFFERS ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL ATTACKS.

I am Enrique da Rosa Alabaster.

I'm a psychiatrist, neurologist
and forensic doctor.

What are the causes of a subdural hematoma?

The most common,
obviously, is a head injury

that doesn't need to be
very big, that's the danger.

But we mustn't forget the
consumption of substances,

among them, particularly, alcohol.

Diego, darling, Gimnasia is with you

We saw that in the postop he
experienced some confusion.

We, along with therapy doctors,

associate it with a withdrawal condition.

The idea is to do a treatment
for this withdrawal.

We think this will last a few days.

I accompanied Diego to
the hospital in Dubai.

During the night he ripped out his IV drip

and he started saying
"Let's get out, let's go",

there was blood on the floor,
"Let's go, that's it, let's go."

CANTEGRIL HOSPITAL PUNTA
DEL ESTE, URUGUAY, 2000

LA PRADERA MEDICAL
CENTER HAVANA, CUBA, 2000

ARGENTINA-SWISS CLINIC BUENOS AIRES, 2004

Admitting a patient like
Diego is not an easy task.

They didn't accept us anywhere.

We were rejected in an incredible way

and there came a time when
we didn't know what to do.

I get the impression that this
is the last chance we have.

MARADONA HOSPITALIZED AGAIN

GUEMES HOSPITAL BUENOS AIRES, 2007

When he was admitted in
November it hit me hard.

I remember writing to a friend:

"Are you watching TV,
are you watching Diego?"

She answered "Yes, but it's Maradona",

he always gets out."

In the year 2007 I had
a very big depression

and my mother decided
to admit me to a clinic.

When I came in, I saw
him sitting on the patio.

It seemed fantastic. "I'm
in a neuropsychiatric"

with Maradona. They won't believe me."

I had been around long enough

and I began to have crying fits, crisis.

They held me down between three nurses

and in a quite violent
situation they injected me.

I couldn't move, I couldn't gesticulate,

everything went black because
I don't remember anything else.

I don't know if one,
two or three days later,

I had another uncontrollable crying attack

and the same three nurses came.

Diego stood up, stood in front of me,

held me with both arms,

he looked at them and said:
"It's not going to happen,"

not with the girl!

"Bring me the phone, I'm
going to call her mother."

And they told him "No, the
phone call hours has ended."

And in a moment he got
fed up and told them:

"In five minutes I'll
set everything on fire.

Bring me the phone." "Hello, madam,"

"Who's talking?", "Diego", "What Diego?",

"Diego Armando Maradona.
Don't worry, the girl is fine,"

but I think you have to come pick her up

"and she has to spend the
night at home, with you."

Maradona saved my life.

NOVEMBER 11, 202014 DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH

Diego has a very good prognosis,

a very favorable evolution
regarding the surgery

and the withdrawal picture
that we discussed previously,

that's why we're considering a discharge.

We are preparing the place
that will receive him,

which will be a house
designed for his recovery.

The good thing is that Diego is whole,

Diego is firm, there
is Maradona for a while

and what's needed now is family union

and being surrounded by
health professionals.

Home hospitalization is always complicated,

much more in the field of addictions.

The relatively serious patient

will be a patient who isn't in a position

to be controlled by relatives
or therapeutic assistants.

The treatments don't
involve locking up a person

or tying their hands.

Recovery for an addict takes
place in the community.

That's what the scientific
evidence shows as well.

A patient with a heart
disease but also an addiction,

a subdural hematoma

means transferring a
neurosurgery department,

an intensive care unit,
a cardiology department

and a psychiatric ward
to a private setting.

We were great in La Plata,

and from there we went directly to Tigre.

I got there and everything
was prepared, let's say.

I have lived in the San Andrés
gated community for years

and we are a very small neighborhood

where we all know each other by name.

I didn't think we were going to lose peace,

I saw it as something special.

We were going to be a part of his life.

We never saw him walking
around the neighborhood.

My husband and my son saw him once,

there was a little hole
and you could see him,

he was sitting there on a chair.

Then, when you walked by,

there was the World Cup
that was on the grill.

It was one of the issues

on the famous Olivos Clinic meeting.

His daughters and family members

said they were going to see to
it that there was no alcohol,

and there was no alcohol.

Anyway, let me tell you, there
was no alcohol because Diego

was already in a condition
that I don't know

if he even wanted to drink alcohol.

Everyone knew that Diego had
heart problems, he wasn't good.

They sent an email to the neighborhood

saying that there was going
to be an ambulance 24/7.

There was never an ambulance.

It wasn't easy being his
doctor and saying to him:

"Look, Diego, take care
of yourself in this,

and take care of yourself
in that", because he

had that temper. He told you:

"Doctor, are you going
to tell me what to do?

I know my body and I know
how to handle myself."

He didn't do what he had to do.

Diego managed his body,
Diego disposed of his body,

and he knew

PABLO LLONTO JOURNALIST

and he listened to what
his family told him,

and then made the decision
to continue with his body.

It's the same as if I told you

"don't smoke" or "don't
drink" or "don't eat."

We are old enough

so as to tell you the
things you have to do.

He had a very, very,
very screwed-up temper.

It was a Sunday, he wanted to see me

and it really was something wonderful

because I found a committed
Maradona, a willing Maradona,

a receptive Maradona, a human Maradona.

I'm not a doctor, but
I'm not stupid either.

Diego had 20 years of cocaine addiction,

Diego had alcohol problems,

Diego had heart problems, liver
problems, kidney problems,

knee problems, back
problems, head problems.

He had problems everywhere.
That's why I'm telling you:

only Diego Armando Maradona could reach 60.

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

1:06 P.M.

Football legend Diego Maradona has died.

MARADONA IS DEAD

"Diego passed away." "Don't
screw with me," I tell him.

It must be someone who made something up

because they want news.

"Diego died."

Then I replied "What are you saying?"

And he, between angry and in pain,

shouted "Diego died!" And I cut him off.

I was in London, taking a nap,

and my wife came to wake
me up with my youngest son

and they told me that Diego had died.

And then the phone calls
begun, the WhatsApp messages,

"Diego died", "Diego died", "Diego died."

I immediately got in the car
and came to Buenos Aires.

And I didn't understand anything,

I didn't understand anything
of what was happening

and I was really shocked.
I was shocked, stunned,

hearing the news that
no one wanted to hear.

I think the natural reaction

that everyone of us who loved Diego had

was to break into tears,

to start crying without finding a...

Thinking it's not true until it really is.

I didn't want to get to my house.

It was impossible to walk a block

and get to my house, it was like...

"No, no, no, no, no."

My mom always used to ask me two questions.

"How are you, good? Did
you speak to Diego?"

I think that every Neapolitan
feels they have lost a relative.

When I received the news, I froze up,

"I talked to him the day before yesterday."

What remains with me is my brother's smile.

Nothing more.

"Thermos head",

"I vaccinated her",

"The turtle's got away."

I was until 3 in the morning
debating with many journalists

what was the right translation
for "You have it inside."

"You have it inside"
means absolutely nothing.

My name is Marcela Mora y Araujo.

My job is to write. I feel that my task

is to explain us Argentines to the world,

and that soccer is the
best tool to do that.

Immediately I began to receive
requests for live interviews

from Sky News, the BBC,
Channel 4, a Turkish radio.

The BBC is many different
programs, television, radio...

I also had to deliver an obituary

to the London Guardian,

that I had been putting off for years

because I never believed
that he was going to die.

And the hours passed
and they kept asking me

"And how do Argentines
feel?", as if there was

only one answer from Argentines,

like we all feel the same.

I met them when they were two kids

madly in love with each other in Barcelona

in 1983.

They were discovering the world,

a world that, I believe, they
didn't even dare to dream of,

because kids who are
born in those conditions

aren't allowed to have big dreams.

I'm not absolutely certain,
but I don't think I'm wrong,

she was his biggest love.

Seeing them together was a pleasure.

I saw that couple and saw an eternal love

that seemed indestructible.

Claudia was always good for him,

from start to finish, and I know it.

I know that because I lived it.

Besides, she was very young

when her relationship with my uncle began,

and she was and always will be my aunt.

We were going to northern
Italy, the two of us,

talking about a thousand things
and talking about relationships,

and he at one point told me:
"Professor, neither Claudia"

nor anyone else is going to forbid me

"to do with my life whatever I want to do."

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

1:50 P.M.

When Claudia arrived, the
first thing that struck me

is that she wanted people to get out

to try to take care of privacy.

If there had to be people from the police

or from the prosecutor's office, fine,

but not one person more
nor one person less.

Until the last moment you could tell

that she was taking care of him.

The police were there, the
forensics teams were there,

they were all there and
they wouldn't let us in.

Then we asked them to please let us in.

My son was even there too, he said

"He's my godfather, he's
my uncle, I want to..."

and, well, they let him in.

It was terrible,

but even to this day I
still don't believe that...

I thought he was asleep,

and I still believe he's asleep,

that one day I'm going to see him.

When I arrived and they saw me
crying, my daughters told me

"Mom, why don't we make a
flower arrangement for Diego?"

To get to Diego's house,
which is on the corner,

you have two entrances.

I went in through the first one

and there I saw Claudia,

Giannina, Dalma, the
truck, Diego was there.

Claudia looked at me and said

"Come here", and that's when she cried,

she hugged me, I hugged her,

Dalma and Giannina too, I gave them a kiss,

they said "Thank you", I threw the flowers

and they landed on top of the truck.

With great sorrow we can
confirm with great grief

the death of Diego Armando Maradona.

No signs were noticed...

Diego Armando Maradona's
body leaves the building...

ITALY 1990 WORLD CUP FINAL ARGENTINA 0
- GERMANY 1

It cost me a lot.

PEDRO MONZÓN WORLD CUP RUNNER-UP ITALY 1990

Because of that baggage that I had to...

Of having lost a World Cup,

of having been expelled,
that many people yelled at me

in the street that it was my fault

"You lost the final, little
drug addict son of a..."

And a lot of things mixed up.

Addictions too.

I thought that life was
no longer worth living

and once I had decided

that this was going to be
the last day of my life,

I thought

to make a deal with myself.

"I'm going to call Diego."

"If Diego doesn't come, I'll stop living."

I had a loaded gun

and I remembered his phone number.

And suddenly I heard a tap on the window,

and there I saw him, in shorts, flip flops,

and there we started talking

But I never told him what I was thinking,

because we would get into a fist fight,

and how could I raise my hand to Diego?

From there, my life began to change.

I started believing much more in God.

I am Gabriela Pepe,

I'm a journalist at Casa
Rosada since December 2019.

CASA ROSADA - HEADQUARTERS
OF THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT

President Alberto Fernández announced

that Diego's wake was
going to be at Casa Rosada.

He said that he had spoken with Claudia

and that the Government
had been made available.

My first thought was that the farewell

was going to have to last several days.

I get to Casa Rosada, ask
how the farewell will be,

how long it will last,
and there they tell me

that Claudia had set some conditions

and had asked for it to
end at 4 in the afternoon.

My first thought was

"This is going to be a disaster."

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

11:50 P.M.

Diego's body arrived at La Paternal,

where he had begun his football career,

a few blocks away

from the Argentinos Juniors stadium,

as if it were a circle that
was closing in Diego's life.

DIEGO MARADONA'S SANCTUARY
LA PATERNAL, BUENOS AIRES

I was 17 years old

and they assigned me to
cover Argentinos Juniors.

And I start going to the
trainings at La Paternal

and there I met Diego.

This is the day of his
debut, he is on the bench,

before joining the match
against Talleres de Córdoba.

I remember from those years several fans

who made songs related
to Maradona's origins.

They yelled at him "damn slum crap."

Those things hurt him
and he reacted to that

and he insulted.

I prefer that they call me "mean Maradona"

rather than "the poverino",
do you understand?

I don't like that "poverino",

because they say it derogatorily.

I prefer them to call me "mean".

I am mean, but "volantiere", as they say.

- Volantiere? How is that?
- Yes, yes, with pleasure.

The house that the club bought him

and that became the first
house with certain comforts

for the Maradona family
was a very simple house.

Diego himself over the years

always used that house as an example

like the great breakthrough for the family,

being able to get out of that
Fiorito that he never rejected,

but that clearly marked the difference.

In Lascano we were

billionaires!

But we were happy, we were
happy with very little.

Lascano's house was not just
a building, it was a symbol,

from which Diego consolidated
as a "pater familia."

Parents, brothers,
nephews, brothers-in-law...

From that moment they
would all depend on Diego.

And he thought of the family,
he thought of my parents.

And that is a pride for us.

- I was sunbathing yesterday.
- Really? Perfect!

Luis Manrique. Retired, unemployed.

Do you speak English?

Yes, sir, I lived 44 years
in the United States.

I was deported.

One day I called my sister in Mendoza

and she told me that my
mother had passed away.

So I called my deporter

and told him to deport
me as soon as possible,

that I was done fighting.

Listening to the radio,
I found out that a lot people

were already gathering downtown.

Diego, darling, The people are with you

I have to be there. I have to give

a farewell to Diego somehow.

My name is Damián Juárez, I own a workshop.

I wore River's shirt.

I already had my mind set on
giving that shirt to Maradona.

So my dad and my brother,

when they saw me leave wearing
River's shirt, they told me:

"This guy is crazy,
they're going to kill him."

That night, "The 12" was
already in Plaza de Mayo.

One group even climbed the
Manuel Belgrano monument,

as if it were a great paravalanche.

He's worth 10 thousand
dollars His name is Maradona

And all the chickens Can suck his balls

And when he goes to the field

"The 12" thanks him For
everything Dieguito deserves

Rafael Di Zeo, Boca fan, fanatic.

Profession, employee.

I can't include "The 12" in that
presentation. I can't say...

I don't usually say "Chief
of the Boca hooligan firm"

because the police has a chief.
We are friends.

Is this one better?

I sent him that shirt, from the 12,

and he took the picture and sent it to me.

Our friendship was kind of secret.

Because of who he was
and because of who I am.

You know how it is,

the media tells you "How can
Maradona be friends with him"

or can he be friends with Maradona?"

Those are prejudices that
people and society have.

The boys were on the
monument tying the flags

and they stayed on top of the horse,

the police wanted them to come down

but they didn't pay attention.

So they came to ask us if we could do it,

and when we told them to get
down, they did it immediately,

and the police looked at us like saying

"You tell them once and they get off,

we were 10 minutes asking
them and they didn't do it."

I met a boy, Damián.

As soon as he saw me, he said...

He pointed at me like this,
"We'll go in together."

I said "okay, okay, we go in together."

We were all drunk, I
thought "He must be drunk."

I, since he was an older man,

I told him: "Rest assured that
I'm going to accompany you."

Because I thought "This man
is going to break down."

Some boys, apparently Boca supporters,

were handing out flowers.

So I asked him for a flower,
but he wouldn't give it to me,

because I had River's shirt.
And Luis spoke to him

and he came after a while,

he apologized and gave me the flower.

My instinct was to tell him:

"Give him a flower, we are at a wake."

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

1:30 A.M.

We were with Ruggeri

saying: "Can you believe
that Diego is in there?"

"Can you believe that Diego is in there?"

And there was Diego. We
couldn't understand it.

His daughters wanted us, the
employees, to participate.

At no time did they say "no",

on the contrary, they included us.

"You, Monona, have to be there,

the security guys have to be there."

I didn't leave at any time,
I was all night on the outside.

I went in and out, but
stayed more on the outside.

I approached at one point,
I wanted to put a T-shirt

that says "The 12, the owners of history."

I asked Claudia for permission,
she said yes, no problem.

So when I put the shirt on his feet,

I touched his leg with my right hand,

his just left leg, precisely,

and at that moment a lot of
things went through my head,

because it was that leg the
one that made him who he was.

His face had the expression
of someone who has suffered.

But he was... He was calm.

I mean, you left without suffering.

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

6:00 A.M.

When the family's wake ended,

the coffin was taken

to the Latin American Patriots Hall,

where the public wake
was going to take place.

During the morning,

the preliminary results
of the autopsy were known.

Diego had died of chronic
acute heart failure

that caused pulmonary edema.

What I remember in the
morning is that there were

some Lanús fans who were making a mess

and that because of them
they disarmed our line.

And the police came, before we got in,

they came to where we were
and wanted to hit the people.

They threw the fences and
well, then I lost Luis.

I told one of the boys,
there were two helping me,

I told him: "Wait, I have to
give this shirt to Maradona."

He told me: "Wear it, because
Diego has many shirts,"

and he told me that this
shirt was worth a lot.

And yes, for me this shirt is worth a lot,

that's why it was the
one I wanted to give him.

But, hey, it couldn't be.

When I got out, I saw Damián.

"I was looking for you," he told me.

And I said "I was looking
for you too and we got lost."

When I opened my eyes,

I saw a lot of cameramen and
photographers taking pictures.

Diego immortalized me.

I believe that these things
could only be done by Maradona.

Only Maradona could do them.

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

10:00 A.M.

Argentina had taken very severe measures

regarding restrictions to the circulation

and the gatherings

from the month of April onwards.

USE HAND SANITIZER

There was nothing, nothing
that showed that we were

in a lockdown due to the coronavirus

or anything like it.

It was the first time that so
many people met on the street,

it was also like shaking a little

what the pandemic had meant.

I had the possibility of
entering the Casa Rosada

as a journalist, but I decided to queue

to say goodbye to Diego
like the rest of the people.

I also wanted to tell that way.

There was an atmosphere,
of course, of great pain.

There was also an
atmosphere of celebration.

Somehow Diego's life was there.

MEXICO 1986 WORLD CUP

My family is a family of political exiles

who arrived in 1977.

Four months later, I
was born in Mexico City.

Since '77, a group of exiles was formed

that we got together as a community.

The Argentine National Team
set foot in Mexico City.

ARGENTINA'S TRAINING
SESSION MEXICO CITY, 1988

What a player, what a player!

Some of the parents knew
"the teacher" Signorini,

he made us the connection
and we, a group of children,

entered the concentration.

The training ended and the one who paid us

the most attention at
that time was Maradona.

When he signed our autographs,
he asked us where we were from

and who we were.

He knew we were children of exile,

but he reaffirmed that.

Through his magic, he made us fall in love

with Argentina, be Argentines.

He was like a San Martín, one
of the last loyal warriors.

He never forgot where he came from.

When I was little, my first
poster was of Diego Maradona

with the Argentina National Team shirt.

Every night when I went to sleep
I looked at him and dreamed,

not with meeting him,
but with football, right?

You have to let the Universe conspire.

You have to release the idea
and the dream must be there

and the Universe will
conspire to make it happen.

The subject of the match comes up

and Diego tells the boys that were there

that they could mark him,

they could follow him one, two,
three at a time, as it happened,

but the only one that they
weren't going to find or mark

was me because of how I played.

Diego told them to pass me the ball,

that he could be covered
but they wouldn't find me,

and that I was going to make
the team work as he could.

In the end, his words were fulfilled.

Hi, my love!

How are you, Tota? I love you, mama!

Dear!

We are living really exceptional moments.

- I love you so much, mom!
- Me too, my love.

Go to rest, my son,

today you have made me

the happiest mother in the world.

The WhatsApp group is
called "Champions of '86"

and I'm the administrator,
that is, I can add and remove.

I have that authority.

When we were on the plane back,

Diego came with the Cup, he
did not want to let go of it.

He didn't give it to anyone.

If one wanted to take a picture with it,

you had to... "Please, Diego, please!"

At one point I think he
fell asleep hugging the Cup.

Wonderful, really.

PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES, 1986

PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES 2020

I love you, Diego!

Who was the best Maradona you ever met?

The best Maradona? Don Diego! By far.

The son played football better,

but the best Maradona was Don Diego.

The relationship between them
was not one of many words.

No!

It was of many looks.

It was very difficult to be
estranged from my father,

because he did not talk to you.

You didn't know if his foot hurt,

his knee hurt, his head hurt.

He would let you talk.

I had a lot of discussions
with both of them,

but one look is enough to say "I love you."

He told me "I want to
reunite with Don Diego."

In fact, they practically
did not speak to each other.

I told Diego to go to Isla del Cerrito.

We arrived at the pier,
a very, very nice boat

with a guide, we went fishing.

I had no idea of the level of distance

that was between the two.

Until at one point he told me
"Ask Don Diego if he's hungry."

I got close to him and I said "Don Diego",

Diego asks if you're hungry."

"Tell him no." I go to
the side, "He says no."

Really very difficult.

Until suddenly the "Kilómetro 11" song

starts playing on the radio.

Diego threw the fishing rod,
Don Diego threw the fishing rod,

he says "Pelu, listen", "Yes,
do you remember when...?"

And they hugged, hugged
and cried, both of them.

I hug them both, we all cry.

And in the middle of the hug,
Diego turns around, looks at me

and says "Play it again."

"How am I going to play it? It's a radio."

They start to investigate, we
find out what radio it was.

"How's it going? Good afternoon,
you just played the song

"Kilómetro 11", I wanted to ask
if you could play it again."

They told me that they couldn't do it,

I said "Look, I'm with Diego Maradona"

and then there's a silence on
the other side of the phone

and the person didn't believe me.

"Diego, here, ask him yourself."
Diego grabs the phone,

and says "Hello, how are you? Diego here."

And we could hear on the other side

"Diego Armando Maradona,
on FM whatever...!"

Of course!

They played it fifteen times.

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

11:00 A.M.

DR. ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ
PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

It was weird because on
one side was his family

around the coffin, mourning,

and right next to it,

the main political figures
of the National Government

began to parade with the intention

to try to convince his family
to extend the wake time.

The line was getting longer
with every passing hour.

Thousands and thousands
of people under the sun.

I arrived and he was in
9 de Julio and Belgrano.

A while later they begin to tell me

that he was already on San Juan Avenue,

then in Constitución.

There was a very dense atmosphere.

Argentina! Argentina! Argentina! Argentina!

Argentina! Argentina! Argentina! Argentina!

The guests made a line

in the internal courtyards
of the Casa Rosada

and that led to a place

next to where his family was
around Maradona's coffin.

They asked people not to take pictures

and that they try to stay a
few minutes only and move on.

That allowed you to see those
who entered from the street

and to observe what was happening

around Maradona's intimate circle.

No, I had never been to the Casa Rosada.

Seeing the people, seeing his family...

Being there made us stronger as a group.

On top of being our coach, he was our idol.

We could greet his daughters

and bring them flowers
and leave him a flower.

It still feels like

it never stops hurting.

I cried a lot,

I thanked him for
everything he had given me,

what I had experienced with him.

I still remember him in
the best possible way.

He was happy in Gimnasia,
so I'm keeping that.

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

2:45 P.M.

FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER
VICEPRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

Cristina came in around 3 p.m.

It was an hour before everything
was supposed to finish.

She prayed there for a few minutes

and at that moment her, the President

and some others Government officials

talked to Claudia, Dalma, Giannina and Jana

and ask them to reconsider their decision,

they tell them that there's
a lot of people outside

who want to come in

and ask them to please
extend the hours a bit.

Claudia was in a mother role,

being there trying to collaborate

with her daughters, above everything else,

in a very painful and
overwhelming situation,

which had nothing to do

with processing their father's death.

When Cristina Kirchner was
already inside the Casa Rosada,

what ends up detonating the situation

is the moment in which they close the door.

They closed the door and there was no one

to take responsibility for that decision,

nor the military nor Federal forces.

As the finishing hour started drawing near,

the access to Avenida de Mayo was closed.

There was a reaction from
some organized groups,

the hooligan firms, that are
used to confronting the police.

What was supposed to be an expression

of collective pain, but also
a celebration of the idol,

turned into repression of
that people's demonstration.

The absurdity is evidenced the moment

when Alberto Fernández decides

first to go out and yell at the people

behind the fence, to ask them
to wait, to have patience,

they were going to be able to get in.

Nobody could hear him and
they gave him a megaphone!

To the President...

Listen, we're trying to
organize more hours...

Who controls the people's affection?

How do you put limits,
schedules, on that affection?

It's difficult to put an end

to something that depends
more on those who are outside.

I was in the Palm trees Courtyard

when I saw that suddenly a lot
of fans entered the courtyard.

It was a kind of a surreal scene.

If they had intended to
break or steal something,

it would have been a disaster.

Obviously they didn't have that intention.

Those who were in the street,
who were more than a million,

were a million Maradonas.

They were there with grief

because they knew that something more

than a football player had died.

Someone that represented them had died.

At that time of the incidents,

they decided to take him out of the room

and take him back to the room

where his close family had been that night.

At one point, yes, I was afraid.

A huge crowd, there was a lot of smoke.

There was us, Diego's
people, his entire family.

His daughters, his sisters, everyone...
Nephews, nieces...

But Jana and I said "Let's put on music,"

and we put perfume on him.

And everyone started to dance.

He left with his music,

and although it hurts to say it,
he left with his whole family.

He was in the coffin and
all his people were there,

hugging and dancing.

At the last moment, he made it.

It seemed that he was smiling,

that he was happy that we are all there,

united, as he liked so much.

He was a person at peace.

Deaths occur from natural causes,

due to negligence or homicide.

Which of these three possibilities

is the one that determines
what happened to Diego?

I think that we are
closer to the first one.

Diego managed his life as he wanted,

without letting his environment
influence him so much.

I would love to have
many people face to face

to ask them "Why?"

"Why did you let him die?"

"Why didn't you make sure
that he had what he needed?"

I thought he was going to have 20 nurses,

40 doctors, 14 ambulances.

Money wasn't a problem.

It will remain in each one's conscience

what they didn't do.

The Diego of the end

was a Diego in loneliness.

There was no friendly hand.
They were all strange faces.

He couldn't find Doña Tota, nor Don Diego,

nor the girls, not even Claudia.

He was running away

from his own ghosts,

which had been so many,

and that practically nobody had discovered.

After the loss of his parents,

I think that, in a sense,

he couldn't take it anymore.

Couldn't and didn't want to.

I believe that all of us, including myself,

cried his death,

not because of the impact
of "How can Diego die?"

but "How can a part of our lives die?"

It was our own past that we were losing.

NOVEMBER 26, 2020

5:45 P.M.

The flag with La Tota never appeared again.

It was that day that he arrived and not...

It's probably with him, wherever he is.

I said:

"Diego, I want to take a
picture with you with the Cup."

We both posed, and Pedro
Pasculli, who slept with him,

gave us this photo,

which is the best gift I
have from that World Cup.

My wife died in a car accident,

one of the first calls
I received was Diego's.

It was really...

We had a game against Vélez.

That game, thank God, we won it

and we dedicated it to him
and everyone was so moved.

We were playing "Chancho va".
At one point he stole my card,

he looked at me and said "The
turtle got away from you."

It was as if Romeo came and
said "I love you, Juliet."

They didn't forgive him
that he had Che Guevara

and Fidel Castro and met with
Chávez and with Lula and with...

No! He had to be a little
puppet for the powerful,

a fool with a colonized brain
to be how the system wants to,

as most of us are.

Just as I have my kid's names,

I have him here.

And I wear it with great pride.

It's a wish we all have.

When we leave,

my dad's barbecue

will be on the table.

My love, go to rest, my son,

today you have made me

the happiest mother in the world.

AFTER A FIRST INVESTIGATION STAGE,

SAN ISIDRO'S PROSECUTOR'S
OFFICE CHARGED 7 PEOPLE

FOR DIEGO MARADONA'S ALLEGED HOMICIDE

WITH GROSS NEGLIGENCE.

ALL OF THEM WERE OFFERED

TO TAKE PART IN THIS DOCUMENTARY.

ONLY THE THERAPIST, CARLOS
DÍAZ, ACCEPTED THE OFFER.

I used to tell him to
let his hair grow long,

because he had beautiful, curly hair,

and he told me "Monona, I had curly hair"

because I had a perm."

- I love you, kid!
-The day has come.

- I love you so much!
-Me too.

He saw Passarella sitting
there, and he walked over

and asked for an autograph.

Passarella told him "No,
I'm not Daniel Passarella",

I'm not Daniel Passarella."

"You see? That's how River people are."

When we were leaving,
he tells me "The fish".

I told him "Diego, why are we going"

to take the fish?

"We'll travel in a private plane."

"We'll take them

because I'm going to eat
them with Don Diego."

This lady is Diego's maternal grandmother.

She smoked a pipe.

Fiorito rules!