Asif Kapadia's Maradona Documentary Slices Through the Myth to Show Us the Man

 Diego Maradona has held cultural sway in Argentina since the 1980s. Illustration: Francisco Navas/The Guardian
Diego Maradona has held cultural sway in Argentina since the 1980s. Illustration: Francisco Navas/The Guardian
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Asif Kapadia's Maradona Documentary Slices Through the Myth to Show Us the Man

 Diego Maradona has held cultural sway in Argentina since the 1980s. Illustration: Francisco Navas/The Guardian
Diego Maradona has held cultural sway in Argentina since the 1980s. Illustration: Francisco Navas/The Guardian

Diego Armando Maradona’s life is a cliché, a rags to riches tragedy. He started as a poor boy with no filter, one whose ruthless drive and innate skill took him to greatness, before a sudden fall. Had he been watching, Andy Warhol would have been enthralled.

Asif Kapadia, who won an Oscar for Amy, another documentary about a scintillating talent who came crashing to earth, is the man behind a new film about Maradona. In the film, titled Maradona, Kapadia slices through the persisting myth of D10S, attempting to free Diego the man from Maradona the legend. After a limited theatrical release, HBO brings the film to US audiences this week.

America missed his legend, catching him at perhaps his lowest low, when he flamed out of the 1994 World Cup after a failed drugs test. In the US, he was a hero to only a few – and I was one of them. As a teenage Argentinian immigrant in the United States in the early 2000s, struggling to reconcile my cultural identity with my new country, I clung to Maradona. He was Platonic Argentinianess, and I found in his legend the answers I sought. His was a greatness to strive for and a perseverance to mimic. His legend held what the teenage me saw as answers about masculinity (be brash, work hard and be a leader) and sportsmanship (forget about it).

Sure, lessons can be found in any world-class athlete, but with Maradona they all came wrapped in an albiceleste bow of patriotism. His success was Argentina’s and by extension mine, decades and thousands of miles away from his heyday. His brilliant goals, his breathtaking skills, his trophies, his literal single-handed demolition of England in 1986 – they were mine too. He validated my reverence for a culture that I was separated from and gave me a love I could share with the only other Argentinian teenager in a neighborhood that was mostly Venezuelan and Colombian.

As a kid, I looked past his drug addiction and involvement with the mafia. Now, the reality of Maradona’s past, which Kapadia skilfuly peels back, is undeniable. Maradona’s present raises even more worrying questions.

Now, after a decade-long absence, Diego (or is it Maradona?) is back in Argentina, to start another chapter. He has taken a job as the manager of embattled Gimnasia y Esgrima, a club languishing near the bottom of the Argentinian Superliga. For Gimnasia supporters, the excitement is real. But despite his insistence that he’s back in Argentina to work (“I am no magician”, he told supporters at his presentation) the motives behind Maradona’s return are opaque. Some argue that it is no coincidence that Maradona is using his fame to bring attention to the club, following the Argentinian tradition of using football as a distraction in times of political instability.

Giselle Fernandez, sister of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the former president and current vice-presidential candidate for Argentina’s opposition party Frente Para Todos, gifted Maradona a rosary carrying a locket. Inside, was a picture of her mother. Maradona is an avowed Kirchnerist and Fernandez is an ardent Gimnasia supporter.

It’s unclear how much business the Fernandez family have tied up in the club – if any – but Noticias, an Argentinian weekly magazine, reported that the club expects to make $3m from sponsorship this season. In the 10 days after the announcement, the club sold 6m pesos ($105,000) worth of jerseys.

The footballer who helped me love my country may be a willing pawn to distract Argentina’s citizens in the critical upcoming elections. Or, perhaps it’s just a club taking the risky bet that he can harvest the same success he had as a player. Kapadia shows us a frightened Maradona. A man who allowed his legend to consume his life, ultimately destroying him. Is Maradona falling into another loop in which he attaches himself to power to feed his need to be loved, leading to his own demise? Does he even realise he is doing this?

Still, there are some lessons from Maradona I hold dear – his perseverance and drive. Other, more negative ones, I’ve cast aside. As time passes Maradona’s myth will continue to change. The only certainty is that the image we have of Maradona is the same as that of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis or any other subject of Warhol’s diptychs: a fiction. We can take the lessons we want – or leave them.

The Guardian Sport



Swiatek Crushes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to Win Maiden Wimbledon Crown

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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Swiatek Crushes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to Win Maiden Wimbledon Crown

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the US to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Iga Swiatek took another stride towards tennis greatness by ruthlessly tearing apart American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 and lifting her first Wimbledon trophy on Saturday.

The big occasion turned into a nightmare for Anisimova who became the first woman to lose a Wimbledon final by that painful scoreline since 1911 and the first to do so at any major since Steffi Graf routed Natasha Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

Already a US Open champion and a four-times French Open winner, Swiatek's demolition job at the All England Club meant that she became the youngest woman since a 20-year-old Serena Williams in 2002 to lift major titles on all three surfaces.

Her superb display on the sun-drenched lawns of London also ensured that she emerged as the first player since Monica Seles in 1992 to win her first six major finals.

"It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself," Swiatek told reporters after hoisting the gilded Venus Rosewater Dish.

"I'm really happy with the whole process, how it looked like from the first day we stepped on a grasscourt. Yeah, I feel like we did everything for it to go in that direction without expecting it, just working really hard.

"It means a lot, and it gives me a lot of experience. Yeah, I don't even know. I'm just happy."

Swiatek's triumph ended a barren 13-month run for the Polish 24-year-old, who served a short suspension late last year after an inadvertent doping violation linked to contaminated sleep medication melatonin.

"I want to thank my coach (Wim Fissette). With the ups and downs now, we showed everybody it's working," Swiatek added.

SCORCHING START

On another warm afternoon on Centre Court, Swiatek got off to a scorching start by breaking a nervous Anisimova three times en route to dishing out the first bagel, prompting some spectators to get behind the shell-shocked American.

A frustrated Anisimova shrieked and desperately looked to her team in the stands for any kind of guidance after conceding yet another break point early in the second set and it was not long before her machine-like opponent pulled away further, Reuters reported.

Anisimova continued to disappointingly crack under pressure, before Swiatek completed the brutal mauling in 57 minutes with a backhand winner on her second match point to become the first Wimbledon champion from Poland.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk celebrated with a picture of himself watching a post-match interview while holding a bowl of pasta and strawberries, Swiatek's cheat meal at Wimbledon, while President Andrzej Duda was effusive in his praise.

"Iga! Today, on the grasscourts of Wimbledon, you wrote history - not only for Polish sport, but also for Polish pride. On behalf of the Republic of Poland - thank you," Duda wrote.

Victory took Swiatek to 100 wins from 120 matches at the majors, making her the quickest to get to there since Williams in 2004, and denied Anisimova the chance to become the first American to win the title since her compatriot in 2016.

Swiatek jumped for joy on court before running towards her team in the stands to celebrate her triumph. The Friends fan was equally delighted to receive a congratulatory hug from American actress Courteney Cox, who was among the spectators.

All this while, Anisimova was left to wonder what could have been as she sat in her seat, before the tears began to flow during her on-court interview.

Few would have envisioned the American to hit the heights she did in the last fortnight after she fell outside the top 400 following her mental health break two years ago.

"I didn't have enough today," said Anisimova, who began the tournament with a 6-0 6-0 win over Yulia Putintseva but admitted to running out of gas in the final.

"I'm going to keep putting in the work, and I always believe in myself. I hope to be back again one day."

It was bitter disappointment for US fans hoping for an "American Slam" this year after Madison Keys won the Australian Open at the start of the year and Coco Gauff triumphed at the French Open last month.