SEEING DIEGO

MARTIN MAZUR ON WHEN DIEGO MARADONA WAS BANNED FOR DRUG USE AND THEN MADE HIS COMEBACK AT BOCA JUNIORS

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THAT nurse, I will never forget her. Sue Ellen Carpenter. That was the woman who grabbed Diego Maradona's hand after Argentina v Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup and escorted him to the anti-doping control. That was the woman who broke my heart. Or at least my football heart.

It was probably the only time in history that a player was man-marked from the pitch to the anti-doping room. Argentina had managed to resurrect from an awful 5-0 home defeat against Colombia in the qualifiers to become one of the candidates to win the World Cup.

The class of Redondo. The energy of Simeone. The power of Batistuta. The speed of Caniggia. And the touch, the genius touch of Maradona. Four-nil against Greece. 2-1 against Nigeria. And then, her. Sue Ellen Carpenter.

The woman who shattered my dream.

While Diego's positive test triggered plenty of conspiracy theories, there was no way to dodge destiny. From guiding Argentina on the pitch, he ended up commenting on television as they lost against Romania in the round of 16. Maradona was suspended for 15 months. It seemed the end of his career.

And to me, a 17-year-old in his last year of secondary school, it was a double blow, for I had never watched Maradona on the pitch playing for my team. And given the odds, it was difficult to foresee that chance ever happening again.

Never again for Argentina. Never again for Boca Juniors.

When Maradona started coaching Textil Mandiyu - a club that later went bankrupt and disappeared - in 1994 and then Racing in 1995, the idea of watching him in action again seemed more than remote.

It seemed that I had missed football's greatest genius of the century. I had only managed to save some video-tapes and lots of memories.

Which is why, to me, Boca v Colon, a seemingly unimpressive fixture of Torneo Apertura 1995, became the game of my life.