In a couple of photos he is seen sitting, apparently pensive and with a lost look, on the side of a football pitch. Another similar one shows him in practically the same position, with his forearms resting on his knees and a stern face. In the other two he appears with all his teammates. These are previously unpublished images of Diego Maradona in his stage in scallions -the Argentinos Juniors youth team where he trained between the ages of 9 and 14- which came to light on Thursday and thrilled his loyal fans.
The black and white images went viral after a publication by Walter Rotundoa fan whose fanaticism for Ten She had her daughters baptized with the names Mara and Dona, and her son, Diego Armando. “I don’t know from which drawer these hitherto unseen photos of Diego Cebollita came out. But thanks to whoever dusted them off and shared them,” she wrote on her X profile. In one, the Fluff posing (bottom left) with his teammates in front of the club’s cafeteria, which was named: “Los Cebollitas”.
Although the exact date of its origin is unknown, nor is its author (although some have attributed it to the historic photojournalist Eduardo Comesaña), in the portraits of that day you can see Diego and the rest listening to a technical talk by Francisco Francis Cornel, the “discoverer” of Maradona and director of that team that between 1970 and 1976 got tired of winning the then famous Evita Tournaments (they went 136 games undefeated). “To close this wonderful series of images, one with the maker of the Onions. The second father of Diego and all those kids. Without Francis, there would have been no Maradona,” Rotundo added when sharing the last of the five photos.
The lives of Cornejo and Maradona crossed for the first time in the first days of March 1969. The Ten He had been invited to try out at Parque Saavedra. Francis, at the time an employee of Banco Hipotecario and an advisor to the lower divisions of Argentinos Juniors, immediately spotted his talent.
Francis – who died on January 13, 2008, at the age of 76, at the Banking Polyclinic – took credit for his detection ability: “There are many skilled kids, but the majority have ten points on their feet and nothing on their heads.” . If a kid has ten below and ten above, you have a genius like Diego. I was lucky that it was my turn, but it could have been anyone’s turn.”.
Over time he also revealed: “There were people who criticized him, who said: ‘We have several like this little black boy, he is very small… he will not amount to anything’”. And in the book “Cebollita Maradona,” published in 2001 and bearing his signature, he told an anecdote that remained engraved in his memory: “Before he debuted in the Novena de Argentinos, thirty or forty retirees were already coming to see him play in Parque Sarmiento.” . Once, an old man, because he was so excited, wanted to give him the bicycle… And Diego didn’t want to. He had many feelings, he was very noble.”
“Maradona is the son I did not have, and with that I am satisfied. He once said: Francis is from the ugly time, when his stomach made noises… With that I say everything”, the man who went down to posterity as the “discoverer” of Maradona expressed his admiration and affection.
