Maradona in Mexico: Profiling A Man In The Rawest Form

Continuing on the trend of watching football documentaries, I want to offer my thoughts on watching 'Maradona in Mexico'. This documentary profiles Diego Maradona's tenure as the coach of Mexican second division side Dorados, in the city of Culiacan at the heart of the province of Sinaloa. Before I talk about the documentary itself, I want to talk about Maradona, the man, in my viewpoint.

I was not even born to watch Maradona as a player, so the only thing I have about him is his various managerial stints, his various interviews, and watching classic content of himself as a player. There is no doubt that Maradona is passionate about the game and expresses his passion in such a raw manner. However, Maradona is also a man that is plagued by his demons, particularly his issues with drugs. I think the documentary communicates both of these aspects about Maradona effectively. From his first weeks at Dorados, it was obvious that Maradona wanted to put in the work needed to get Dorados promoted to the first division, and it was not a PR stunt like some of the media predicted. It also felt cheap for the documentary to compare Maradona's battles with drug abuse and staying in a region that is a major hub for drug trade.

'Maradona in Mexico' does not have the production level as 'Inside FC Barcelona' or the same drama as 'Sunderland Til' I Die', but the documentary was able to effectively showcase every aspect of Dorados, from the team president and the players, down to the fans and their love for the team and the region of Sinaloa. You get to see the interactions between Maradona and all of the stakeholders of the club, both the good and the bad. I remember a specific instance in the documentary where Maradona was straight up cursing at some kids who wanted an autograph because they kept yelling 'Diego' because they wanted an autograph.

I recommend watching 'Maradona in Mexico' on Netflix because you get to see the real version of Maradona. You see the dizzying highs that he experiences in coaching Dorados, and you see the crushing lows of his professional and personal life during his time. This documentary is not terribly exciting, but the documentary has a sense of maturity in profiling a man who can be anything but mature.

Side note: If you cannot get enough of Diego Maradona, I highly recommend HBO's documentary on Diego Maradona's time as a player for Napoli, directed by Asif Kapadia. This was one of the best football documentaries I have ever seen, and it will be a subject of a future review on this blog.