-How was sharing life with Maradona? He Was he pretty?
-It was much more than nice to share life with him. It was cute.
On the other side of the phone, from Brazil, answer Ricardo Rogerio de Brito (Lavras, Minas Gerais, 1961), known as German in the football world for his blond hair. A midfielder, before coming to Naples and falling in love with San Paolo and Diego Armando Maradona, he played for Atlético de Madrid from 1987-88. He was the last player signed by Vicente Calderón, who died just a few hours before the Brazilian flew to Barajas. “My life at Atlético is curious, strange. When I arrived, Vicente Calderón had died and I had to work hard to be able to stay, since Jesús Gil wanted to change all the players,” he agrees in a conversation with El Periódico de Catalunya, newspaper of the same group, Prensa Ibérica, than this newspaper.
“The beginnings were difficult, but the second season went very well. My career in Europe started at Atlético in a fantastic way. I always say that the best part of my professional life was in Madrid,” continues Alemão. In 1988 he received the award ‘Don Balon’ to best foreigner in the Spanish league. In total he played 39 games with Atlético, and one of those that is still alive in memory is the only one that played at the Camp Nou: refereed by Ramos Marcos, he started on October 3, 1987 and, due to the rain, he finished 25 days later, on October 28.
Robert Fernández advanced to Luis Aragonés’ Barça, but Roberto López Ufarte and Roberto Simón Marina came from behind (1-2). “How can I forget that game? It was raining a lot,” says the Brazilian, with an unforgettable mustache and long hair. With Napoli, Alemão, Maradona’s squire along with the Carecas and company, won a UEFA Cup (1989) and a ‘Scudetto’ and a Super Cup (1990).
“They were very nice and important moments,” he recalls. “It’s always good to talk about Diego,” she sighs, giving in to nostalgia. He says that Maradona was as big as the void he has left. In his mobile he keeps some photos with Diego like a treasure
“When we arrived in the northern cities they always called us ‘terroni’, to call us Africans. They always shouted things like that at us, or Welcome to Italy. It was hard to suffer that racism, but we didn’t care”
How was the signing for Napoli forged?A manager came to see me one day when we won 7-0 against Mallorca. I made a goal. I played very well. They started following me and then we closed the deal. I remember when I arrived at the concentration. They were eating. I arrived at the restaurant and Diego received me very well, with sympathy. We were friends from that moment. I have ‘made’ experiences with Maradona that can never be forgotten. I remember one day he asked me for the ball in midfield, in training. A minute before he had told me ‘now I will score a goal from midfield against Giuliano [Giuliani]’. He gave him the ball, he hit it with precision and scored from the middle of the field. At the training there were about 3,000 people. I think they all entered the field. We had to run away. Maradona stayed there, in the arms of the ‘tifosi’. It was impressive, incredible.What was Maradona for the Neapolitans?The most important person on Earth. They had, and still have, Maradona as the most important person on Earth. He represented a lot for the Neapolitans. He gave the fans and the city something they had never had: confidence, honor, pride, joy, victories. And representation, which was a very important thing. Because the Italians did not have Naples as a city of Italy. When we arrived in the northern cities they always called us ‘terroni’, to call us Africans. They always shouted things like that to us, or ‘Welcome to Italy’. It was hard to suffer that racism, but we didn’t care. We had a great team, and victory was always better. It was one more reason to win. It made us want to win more. Because they were things outside of football that hurt the Neapolitans. It was much more than football. Winning a championship with Napoli represented much more than with any other team, because there was the political issue in the middle. The Neapolitans will always be grateful to Maradona. Forever. They will always talk about him. They will never forget it. Because he gave them everything.And for you, how were those three years in San Paolo with Diego?It was a real joy to be able to play alongside Maradona. We felt a lot of pressure to play with him, because the whole team had to play very, very well. The level was extremely high and the competition was great: many players wanted to be there. It was difficult, like everything in life, but it turned out well. We had so much fun. It was nice. Practices were always packed. The parties were always full. Maradona was joy, desire to have fun, responsibility with the result and with the ‘tifosi’, love of the shirt and the ball. Maradona was very, very different from the others. Really, very different from the others. I don’t think we’ll ever see another one like it. It was a myth. A phenomenon. There are so many things that, sometimes, when I watch a game from when we were together, I can’t even believe that I was there too, with him. It is one of the gifts of my profession and of my life. When I look in the memories I get emotional. They are a treasure. A privilege. I was there with him. I was there with him. It is a great privilege.It has been more than a year since the day of his death: what did you feel that day?I loved him and I miss him very much. A week before she died we were talking about seeing each other in Brazil, to be together. And a week later Maradona left. I’ve been very, very sad. When a friend called me to tell me that he had died he couldn’t believe him. I spent two days talking to the press about Maradona: everyone called me to talk about him. I felt a lot of sadness. Truly, Maradona was a good boy, a good person: he may have had some bad company, yes, but he had a very big heart. His death was very similar to that of Ayrton Senna. When Ayrton Senna died, everyone cried because everyone loved him. And with Maradona the same, or more. Brazilians loved Maradona. We were very sad. They loved him very much, just as he loved the Brazilians. How not to do it?