Buenos Aires, Argentina – When Luciano Perez and his son Dante went to the Argentine presidential palace in which Diego Maradona’s coffin was displayed, he comforted himself in the crowd that had gathered along Avenida de Mayo.
He was happy to see tens of thousands of people showed up to honor the football icon he grew up with and who made him love the game.
But when he entered the Casa Rosada and passed the closed coffin wrapped in the Argentine flag and shirts worn by El Diego, his feelings darkened.
“I didn’t meet him and now I’ve seen him in a coffin, it was just terrible,” said Perez, 36.
Maradona’s coffin was wrapped in the national flag and football shirts [Presidency of Argentina via EPA]Argentina didn’t expect that. The sudden loss of Maradona is too difficult to process, too raw to put into words for this football-obsessed nation.
A genius on the pitch, the player who drove the national team high at the 1986 World Cup, Maradona’s name became synonymous with his homeland.
Now the land is overwhelmed with acute grief, punctuated by the singing and dancing that was reserved for its dazzling goals. The fans had to celebrate El Diego, it was like a balm against the pain.
Tens of thousands of people gathered along Avenida de Mayo [Juan Mabromata/AFP]Some of the heightened emotions spilled over into confrontations with the police as some fans tried to make their way into the presidential palace in the early hours of the morning. Others tried to cross the line that the police had cut off at the end of visiting hours.
Maradona died on Wednesday after a heart attack. His body was taken to Casa Rosada in a motorcade after dark when thousands sought the company of fellow mourners at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires. Many of them switched to La Casa Rosada to spend a few seconds around their idol.
About a million people are expected to pay their final respects with the official entourage. A state funeral is planned, although the details are not clear. Reuters news agency reported that Maradona’s family plans to bury his body on Thursday evening in the Bella Vista cemetery in Buenos Aires province, where his parents are buried.
As the initial viewing stoppage neared 4:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT), police closed the line. TV stations reported that fans walked past them and threw stones as police fired rubber bullets. The cutoff has been extended to 7pm (10pm GMT).
Local media reported that the coffin would travel to the cemetery via 9 de Julio, Buenos Aires’ legendary avenue, so that the crowds that lined it could get one last glimpse of their idol.
Maradona color story [Natalie Alcoba/Al Jazeera]“There is no jersey today. There is no political party today. That was Diego all his life. He united the Argentines, ”said Nahuel De Lima, 30, who stood first in line and came from Villa Fiorito, the same impoverished area of Buenos Aires where Maradona grew up.
Right behind him was Dolores Morales, clutching an old title page from the time of the World Cup victory.
“Sometimes you don’t know how to describe things, but he’s the greatest, he’s a god. And there will be a day for Maradona, remember, ”Morales said.
“Maradona represents the Argentine,” said Martin Rabassano. “Did he have contradictions? Sure, like the whole world. He crossed football. It’s much more than a ball. So he has my respect and his family has my respect. I had to be here. “
Like Perez with his son Dante. His love for football and Maradona stayed with him all his life.
“He was my childhood. My youth. The reason I played soccer, ”said Perez, who is from the Lanus suburb of Buenos Aires. “It had a different magnetism. He’s a guy who came from below, who empathizes with the worker, the person who doesn’t work, the rich person, anyone. He is authentic. That’s the most important. “
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