Maradona’s legacy lives on in Tanzania

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AA) – On the streets of Keko, a dusty neighborhood dotted with flimsily built concrete houses with corrugated iron sheets in Tanzania’s port city of Dar es Salaam, the enduring legacy of Diego Maradona – a football legend who rose to stardom from a harsh life in an impoverished slum – still lives on.

In this neighborhood, which resembles the Villa Fiorite slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where Maradona grew up, every dweller has a story to tell about the legendary football star's life and death, and how his growing influence has inspired the younger generation and helped define the future of the sport in the East African country.

Masoud Kimweri, a 59-year-old carpenter who played in Tanzania’s national football team in the 1980s before retiring, recalled how he was devastated when he learned of Maradona's death, whom he adored as one of the world’s greatest football icons.

“He was a great inspiration for me. There are no words to explain the anguish that gripped me when I learned he had died,” Kimweri told Anadolu Agency.

- Extraordinary ability

Dressed in a tattered light blue and white Argentina jersey tainted with sawdust, Kimweri, who was briskly trimming the surface of wood with a plane, said Maradona will be remembered for his extraordinary ability on the field.

As a fan of the football legend, who died of a heart attack on Nov. 25, 2020, at the age of 60, Kimweri recalls how fellow players tried to imitate Maradona in the 1980s although they barely matched his talent.

“As young players, we always tried to copy Maradona’s maneuvers but we did not succeed,” he said.

One year after his death, the soccer star, who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup final against West Germany, is still widely admired by young and old Tanzanians for his remarkable abilities.

This holds true at Keko suburb in Dar es Salaam, which has a legion of football fans of one of the world’s greatest dribblers.

“Many players of our time loved him for his exceptional skills like Christian Ronaldo is adored for his creativity,” Kimweri said.

For many Keko residents, the soccer legend is still regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

- Gifted player

In the bustling Dar es Salaam city, home to six million people, both young and old are still shackled by the memory of the football star, known for his extraordinary technical ability on the pitch, said Ricky Abdallah, a soccer analyst.

"Maradona was a gifted player with a remarkable talent, and finding someone like him will take many years," Abdallah said.

According to him, he will be remembered forever for his skill and humility.

“He was a skillful player. His character on and off the pitch made his legacy even greater,” the analyst remarked.

According to Abdallah, Maradona turned football into a political act and inspired hope for the world’s poor.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Jella Mtagwa, a former captain of Tanzania’s national team known as Taifa Stars, who propelled it to the 1980s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Lagos, Nigeria, hailed the Argentinian midfielder for his rare skills in thwarting heart-throbbing offensives, creativity and goal scoring that stunned his rivals.

“Maradona inspired many people from all walks of life,” he said.

Mtagwa described Maradona as a football star who will be sorely missed not only for his on-field performance but also for creating an inseparable bond with his fans.

“He was truly a man of the people who respected both the rich and the poor,” Mtagwa said.

According to him, Maradona had his own flaws as a human being, but history will judge him kindly for his undisputed world record.

Like any other African young boy born into a poverty-stricken family, Maradona, who rose to stardom, never allowed the harsh reality of life in the slums of Villa Fiorito on the outskirts of Buenos Aires to crush his childhood dreams.

The football star never forgot where he came from, a trait that endeared him to many of the world’s poor.

Maradona’s life and death have stirred a huge devotion and unconditional love, said Kimweri.

“History will be kind to Maradona who never lost the desire to help the poor,” he stressed.