In Front of His Daughter Dalma, Maradona could not help his team win

I have now joined the same group of people who can claim they have seen Maradona playing “ON the pitch.” It is not from the stands, but just standing behind him is where I stood and watched him play a competitive match at the age of 52.

Diego Maradona played his second game with the Dubai Sports Council team in the “7 Up Dubai Government Entities Football League” – Above 38 group.

The sad fact is that Dubai was not there to watch him. There were a few enthusiastic camera holders around him – including myself and my friend Wael, but that was not what you would expect when Maradona is playing. The lovely news came in the shape of Dalma Maradona who attended the game with some friends to support her father. Dalma Maradona was interviewed by MBC TV channel before she took her seat to enjoy the match.

Dalma Maradona being interviewed in Dubai

Maradona played a couple of minutes before deciding to leave the pitch in anger. He was mad at one of the opposition’s players. Maradona accused the player of being below the age of 38 and from where I was standing, the player looked like a 29 year old veteran.

Maradona stayed on the touchline for some time while his team was dragging 1-0. Then, a penalty kick was awarded against his team and the score became 2-0. Maradona cooled down and decided to go in again trying to help his team make a comeback.

At halftime, Maradona had another outburst trying to argue the same subject of the ‘underage’ player. He went in and played the entire second half providing some good passes and shooting a couple of freekicks, before the keeper miraculously saved a last minute shoot from him.

The match ended 2-0 and his team did not make it to the semi-finals. Maradona left the pitch in anger and asked Dalma to join him at once, refusing to stop for questions or photos with the few around him. It might be the result or the dubious refereeing decisions that caused all the upset, but Maradona was surely just being Maradona.

Diego Maradona taking a break at halftime; away from everyone