Napoli vs Verona Throwback: The Marvelous Maradona Lob

When the younger generations think about Diego Maradona, the first thing that comes to mind is his memorable brace in a 1986 World Cup Quarter Final against England. Dieguito disposed of the English with an absurd handball, so blatant and evident that it’s still a mystery nowadays how the referee could not notice that.

Then, just as if he wanted to redeem himself from the shame, he scored his second in an astonishing fashion, as he dribbled past no less than six opponents before depositing the ball into the untended net, wrapping what many call El gol del siglo and arguably believe it the best goal ever scored in the history of the beautiful game.

But Maradona was much more than that. Those who could follow his Serie A performances at Napoli back in the days were regularly treated with the most incredible samples of footballing skills, witnessing goals that defied any logic and the very basic laws of physics.

One of those – a lob from 40 meters afar that left the visiting Verona supporters at the San Paolo speechless – has become an absolute classic in Italian football.

Many players have scored in a similar fashion since then, from Alvaro Recoba against Empoli to Catania’s Giuseppe Mascara in a derby with Palermo. But no one did it with the grace and the simplicity that Maradona displayed as he gently caressed the ball and whipped it mercilessly into the back of Napoli’s Veronese archenemies’ net. Plus, Maradona’s heroic tasted like sweet revenge.

Maradona had faced Verona on the very day of his Serie A debut on September 16, 1984. It was not a memorable day for him as the Gialloblu outclassed the Partenopei and collected a convincing 3-1 win. Verona would go on to win their first and only Italian title in the 1984/85 season.  

But, just one year later, things were very different. A fairytale was coming to an end as another one was set to begin. While Verona quickly abdicated the throne, the Azzurri were slowly starting to climb the Serie A hierarchy, an ascent that would culminate the following season with winning the Scudetto for the first time – the only team from what is traditionally known as the “South of Italy” to do so.

October 20, 1985, marked an ideal passing of the baton as Napoli received Verona at the then San Paolo Stadium on matchday 7 and disposed of them by a sensational 5-0 score. Five different players made it to the scoresheet as Maradona grabbed the lion’s share with two assists and a goal that is still remembered as one of the finest ever seen in Serie A.

Napoli vs. Verona was not an ordinary game. There has always been much hatred between the two fan bases – a classic example of North vs. South of Italy contrast – but the rivalry was peaking in the mid-1980s, when both sides could have top-of-the-table ambitions. Every time that Napoli traveled to Verona, their supporters were regularly and infamously invited to “wash yourselves” by the local fans, who went so far as displaying a banner that urged the Mount Vesuvius to take the matter into its own hands and “wash them with fire”.

When the Verona faithful paid a visit back, the welcome could not be much different. However, the Neapolitans’ most famous banner answer was one that hit back through irony and cast some shadows on the reputation of Verona’s most notable – although fictional – citizen by solemnly claiming that “Juliet is a slut”. (No matter what Romeo and Shakespeare said)

On that day, Napoli put on the eye of the tiger and were no match for the Gialloblu. Early after kick-off, Daniel Bertoni called the Verona goalkeeper Giuliano Giuliani to a tricky save from a free kick, but Bruno Giordano was quick to pounce on the rebound to fire the Neapolitans ahead.

Right after the restart, Maradona whipped a free kick in the middle of the box and his long-time friend Salvatore Bagni was left alone to convert his suggestion into Napoli’s second.

That could already have been enough for the home side to make a full score, but the best was yet to come.

On 58 minutes, a Verona offensive action suddenly turned into a fast break for Napoli and the ball ended, guess what, on Maradona’s feet. But rather than triggering the counterattack, Maradona thought to do something different. He was still 40 meters far from the goal, but what are 40 meters when you are El Pibe de Oro?

The ball bounced once-twice in front of him and, before it would bounce a third time, Maradona hit it with a soft touch almost carelessly. He made it seem like it was the most natural and effortless thing to do.

High and high the ball went as Giuliano Giuliani, a future Scudetto winner at Napoli, realized that he was incautiously far from his posts and attempted a desperate comeback. All he could do was see the ball lob past him and end its run into the back of the net. He stood motionless, then hit the net with an angry gesture. But it was not anger, his one. It was just bitter resignation, facing the fact that, in the face of a goal like that, what on earth could you do?

Napoli would score twice more with Bertoni and Eraldo Pecci to complete a sensational hammering against the incumbent Italian champions. But it was obviously Maradona’s goal to steal the stage on that afternoon.

A goal that El Pibe de Oro himself unpretentiously billed as “nice” in a post-match interview. “It was a nice goal, because I scored it from afar,” he said. Yeah, it was as simple as that, right?

 

MATCH SCORECARD

October 20, 1985 – Serie A 1985-86 Round 7
NAPOLI – VERONA 5-0

SCORERS: 21′ Giordano, 48′ Bagni, 58′ Maradona, 83′ Bertoni, 85′ Pecci 

REFEREE: Mr. Lo Bello from Siracusa