“When you win, nothing hurts.”
— Diego Maradona
Maradona said this after the 1986 World Cup final. Behind it was not philosophy but physiology: he played through injuries, under pressure, with drugs in his blood. Victory was his painkiller. When the victories stopped, the pain came back and took everything.
I grew up in Villa Fiorito, a slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Tin roof, dirt floor, eight people in two rooms. My father worked at a factory for pennies. My mother washed other people's laundry. There was no ball. I twisted rags together and wrapped them with string. At ten they took me to Argentinos Juniors. I rode the bus two hours each way. At sixteen I debuted in the first division. At twenty-five I beat England with my left foot alone. When you win, you forget where you came from. But where you came from does not forget you.