“Oh mamma, mamma, mamma, sai perchè mi batte il corazon? Ho visto Maradona. Ho visto Maradona..Hey, mamà, inamorato son!” This is Maradona's “anthem” gifted by Neapolitan fans.
If Diego Armando Maradona were still alive, the greatest football player in history would be crying for joy. The Naples Football Club on which he played as #10 from 1984 to 1991 won the Serie A Italian Football Championship 2022/23 season for the third time in its 33 year history. Known as El Pibe de Oro (the Golden Foot), Maradona was a native from Argentina whose fans adopted him as one of Italy’s own.
No Italian will forget when Naples won its first Serie A championship on May 10, 1987, a night when spontaneous madness exploded into celebrations with loud car parades and hugs in the streets. With proper Neapolitan irony, on the wall of the city’s Fuorigrotta cemetery someone wrote: “What you have missed!”. The Parthenopean city still has a deep crush on Maradona as evident on its walls covered with his familiar and beloved face painted on many corners in popular districts. Come with us on a special sightseeing tour of the most famous of these colorful tributes to a national hero.
Essere Umani e Dios Umano by Jorit Agoch
(Photo credit: vita.it)
Let’s start in San Giovanni a Teduccio, a very popular suburban district in southwest Naples. At Via Taverna del Ferro stands one of the world’s largest murals dedicated to Diego Armando Maradona. Dios Umano was painted in 2017 by Jorit Agoch, a Dutch-Italian street artist, and reproduces a picture of the great champion while he was the trainer of the Argentine National Football Team. On the building to the left of the icon, Agoch’s 2018 mural portrays a common scugnizzo —local kid from the block—whose caption reads essere umani (being human), joining Maradona’s caption, dios umano (God man) to express that people and gods are on the same level. The faces of both the proud and very serious Maradona and the boy are striped with red lines, the artist’s distinctive mark. Inspired by an African practice, the artist explained that the lines symbolize the tribe’s unity as opposed to the singularity: “They are the key to interpreting everything I do. I’m bringing art’s beauty to those who don’t know it. I’m doing my best. Neapolitan people really deserve it.”
Half Man Half Dream by Antonio Cotecchia
Part portrait, part pop, the mural celebrating Maradona on Via Lammatari at Rione Sanità is the work of Antonio Cotecchia, a native of Naples living in Milan. Maradona, pictured here as half man and half dream, has always been considered more than a sports star. He was a father and son figure at the same time, and people were always ready to forgive his “madnesses” both inside and outside the stadium.
Ceramic Mosaic by I Puffi di Oplontis/Maradona Stencil by El Spiga
(Photo credit: getyourguide.com)
The multicolor ceramic mosaic of Maradona that shines a few feet from the entrance of the famous restaurant “O’ Vascio e Nunziatina” is one of several homages to Maradona by Italian-French artists Francesco & Bruno, nicknamed I Puffi di Oplontis. To the left is a stencil of Maradona playing in his prime in 1984 by the Argentine artist El Spiga. Inside the restaurant you can admire a little shrine to Maradona—a secular place of worship! This reflects the quasi-religious devotion to Maradona in Naples and elsewhere.
Diego Armando Maradona in Quartieri Spagnoli by Mario Filardi
(Photo credit: getyourguide.com)
The year 1990 was a memorable one for the Naples Football Club. The city won its second “Scudetto” thanks to the unrivaled Maradona. At Via Emanuele de Feo, in the higher part of Quartieri Spagnoli, you can find a small commemorative square called Largo Maradona. The player is represented in his #10 jersey with the captain’s stripe on the left arm. This beautiful mural is an iconic one, maybe the most representative and definitely the city’s oldest, painted in 1990 by Mario Filardi. The work was restored in 2016 by Salvatore Iodice and Argentine street artist Francisco Bosoletti who freshened up the face.
La Stazione Metro Mostra-Maradona
This vibrant tribute to Maradona graces the walls of the closest underground station to the Maradona Stadium and Oltremare Exhibition in Naples. The station also contains giant drawings of the most iconic Naples football players since 1926.
Tribute to Diego Armando Maradona by Raffo Art in Sanitá
(Photo credit: Ecodibergamo.it)
In a section of Naples made famous as the birthplace of the Italian comedian Totò, artist Raffaele Liuzzi, known as Raffo Art, painted an early 10-foot-high face of Maradona just after the icon’s death in 2020. This act of love was deeply appreciated by all the inhabitants. On his Facebook page, the artist wrote, “Naples cries for you because we have lost the number 10, as well as our heart’s number 1. You are a symbol of eternal life.”
Pallonetto di Santa Lucia by Filippo Esposito, aka Filospray
(Photo credit: travelfashiontips.com)
The market district’s 13-foot-long mural by artist Filospray portrays the three most significant moments of Maradona’s professional life: playing as a kid in the Argentine Boca Junior Club, to which he was devoted his entire life; the champ showing his #10 Naples football jersey and celebrating with the UEFA Cup trophy and, at last, wearing the National Argentina Team jersey while playing at the FIFA World Cup Mexico ‘86.
Barbara Benzoni
Barbara Benzoni was born in Milan and lives between Rome and Tuscany. She is devoted to USA, the land of courage and innovation. She’s Peter's super-lucky mum and Ale's wife. Cinema, art, good food and only beautiful things are the themes of her existence. With a degree in Italian literature and a Masters in Sports Management she can both enjoys books and basketball matches. In 25 years she has been organizing sport events all over the world and she’s been lucky enough to meet the greatest champs ever. Curiosity in everyday life and people are her drivers. Her personal icon is Mohammed Ali : "It's not bragging if you can back it up".