Former Italian footballer Fabio Cannavaro has recounted his meeting with Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Fabio Cannavaro is a child from Naples. As such, he idolized Diego Maradona during his youth. Not being from the same generation, he did not have the chance to evolve alongside them. On the other hand, he was able to meet him in person. And it’s an episode that he remembers in detail to this day.
“Maradona, a living God”
“In 1993, we were on tour with Napoli in Argentina, we went to his house and that’s where I saw the first padel court. He tried to get us to participate, but when he realized that none of us knew how to play it, he realized it was better to leave it alone.”revealed the 2006 Ballon d’Or in an interview with the Calciomercato website.
During his long and rich career, Cannavaro was able to meet and play alongside very great footballers. But, he recognizes that El Pibe Del Oro is someone unique. “He has always represented everything. For us, he was and still is a living God. The first time I saw him, I was 12 years old, we were in the locker rooms of the San Paolo; then, I had the chance to know him as a partner because I went with the first team on Thursday, and as a friend by seeing him in Dubai. It’s a shame he left like that, he surely could have lived longer.”
In addition to Maradona, Cannavaro also told an anecdote about his former partner at Juventus, Pavel Nedved. “My Ballon d’Or? He is at my house, well guarded. When my friends come, it’s the first thing they want to see. But here, I have an anecdote to tell you. A year before winning it, I went to Nedved’s house and he had his Golden Ball on the mantelpiece. My wife told me to touch it, but I didn’t do anything. It’s like cups: you don’t touch these things, you lift them.”
