Red Star against Barca in the Marakana in Belgrade – like once with Maradona.
Photo: imago/LaPresse
Haven’t heard from Emir Kusturica in a long time, at least nothing that concerns his core competence as a filmmaker. Six months ago he visited Vladimir Putin and on the occasion praised the Russian president’s services to the Slavic cause. That wasn’t particularly well received in the Western world, but Kusturica has never cared about what others think of him. The Serb enjoys the role of the eternal outlaw – which is also why he admires Diego Armando Maradona, the greatest but also most controversial artist to ever appear on the European football circuit.
Kusturica also made an award-winning film about Maradona. It’s called “Maradona by Kusturica,” which at first glance sounds like pretension, but at second glance it fits the content perfectly. Of course it’s also about the Argentine football god who died four years ago, but above all about the director’s love for his leading actor. Kusturica speaks the commentary and plays the second leading role. And at the very end he persuades Maradona to do a very special remake.
This Wednesday, FK Red Star Belgrade welcomes the high-flyers FC Barcelona on the fourth main round matchday of the Champions League. Finally a big evening again in the Rajko Mitic Stadium, which the people of Belgrade just call Marakana because it has a similar curve to the football cathedral in Rio de Janeiro.
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Kusturica was there in that stadium when FC Barcelona won 4-2 at the Red Star in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in October 1982. Maradona scored two goals at the time – including his best ever. Certainly, despite his two strokes of genius at the 1986 World Cup against England, the bad and the good, when he first cheated the ball into the goal with the divine hand and later conjured up a rarely seen solo run across half the pitch. That’s all well and good, but they don’t come close to the work of art in Belgrade.
On that autumn day 42 years ago, Maradona was a week shy of his 22nd birthday and already at the peak of his abilities. He scores his first goal, interestingly with his head, even though he is the smallest on the pitch. Then the time is ripe for the masterpiece. With seven touches, all with his gifted left foot, he drives the ball from the halfway line into the opponent’s half, with the eighth he shovels the ball into the sky of the black night over Belgrade. Steeply up towards the floodlight mast, until it then flops just as steeply back into the ground, directly behind the goalkeeper into the goal. 120,000 Belgraders take their breath away. And then they cheer. Louder than her team’s two goals.
In this magical moment, the filmmaker falls in love with the footballer. A quarter of a century later, Emir Kusturica persuaded Diego Maradona to travel to Belgrade and visit the Marakana. Don Diego crosses himself before entering the pitch, he lets the ball dance, heel, tip, one, two, three. “Diego, show me the goal!” Kusturica calls across the lawn. But gladly! In patent leather shoes, Maradona shovels the ball steeply into the Belgrade sky, which this time shines blue because the sun also wants to watch the remake of perhaps the most beautiful goal of all time.