Football fans often call Leo Messi the best player of his gene-ration, if not of all time. For most Argentines, however, Messi can only ever rank second — after all, all he’s ever done is kick a ball.

Diego Maradona, on the other hand, was always more than an athlete: he’s a cultural icon, a political heavyweight, and a damn fine footballer, in that order. He became El Diego, a sports demagogue — and, if you subscribe to the Iglesia Maradoniana, he’s an actual demigod, too.

The Buenos Aires barrio boy who made it to the top, Diego scaled the heights and brought the whole neighborhood with him. As Maradona made his teammates better around him, he restored the nation’s self-image after a devastating war and years of violent dictatorship.