Argentines caught between love and indifference for Maradona

Argentine legend Diego Maradona is a controversial idol, worshipped as a god for his World Cup-winning exploits but whose life of excess has left a tormented public back home torn between veneration and derision.The 57-year-old hit the headlines in Russia this week when he was filmed making two-handed middle-finger gestures to fans during Argentina's narrow win over Nigeria in their final World Cup pool game.How to take his attention-grabbing outbursts is a recurring theme back home in Argentina.

Carried out of his seat in the VIP box after the match, he was forced to deny rumors he had been hospitalized, saying the next day that he was "very alive." "In Russia he's caused a stir, he's a guy who retired decades ago and who won things 30 years ago, but if he sneezes. we're all on tenterhooks, waiting. That's unique. That's Maradona," said Sollner.- Diego, to the Nth degree
Those who know Maradona describe him as having an explosive personality while keeping his feet on the ground, despite having reached a sporting Olympus."Diego was a kid in the slum, with a kite, on which he wrote the name Maradona. He started to run and the kite took flight, but he stayed on the ground," is how biographer Guillermo Blanco puts it.