God’s Hand, God’s Nose

There’s a photo of Maradona at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with a vuvuzela inserted into his nostril. He’s grinning. He looks entirely at ease. And what other man on earth could make that face—what other person exists for whom this image is not surprising, not character-destroying, not even particularly newsworthy, just Tuesday?

The vuvuzelas were the sound of that tournament, a permanent drone that turned every broadcast into an apiary emergency. Everyone hated them, they were everywhere, and there was nothing to be done. Diego found the correct application: a prop scaled to his legend, something that could fit up one nostril and become an international image within hours. In doing so he produced the definitive photograph of South Africa 2010, and possibly of his entire post-playing career.

Football god. Absolute disaster of a human being. I’m glad he existed.