Maradona's Son in Naples: The Story of Diego Armando Sinaglia

In the summer of 1986, babies named Diego Armando Maradona were a common sight in Naples. After carrying Argentina alone at the World Cup, Maradona had returned to Italy and turned Napoli from a mid-table side into a team competing for the Serie A title. In the week after the World Cup final, 5.5 percent of babies born in Argentina were named Diego.

Antonio 'Bostik' Esposito, a former leader of Napoli's ultras, describes what Maradona meant to the city. Esposito says they saw him as a football god and that he was the greatest footballer in history. Today Esposito runs a bar on Largo Maradona in the Quartieri Spagnoli district. A giant mural painted in 1990 has replaced a place where drugs were once sold.

Although Maradona died five years ago, traces of him are everywhere in the city. You can see him on a sticker by a roadside and on a man's arm, where his face is tattooed. Bruno Alcidi, the owner of another bar, recalls that in 1986, when he boarded a plane for an AC Milan match, Maradona was on the same flight. After landing, he took a lock of hair left on the seat and kept it as a joke for his friends. Today that hair sits at the center of a small shrine.

The most striking part of the story has come to light only recently. On 20 September 1986, a baby named Diego Armando Sinaglia was born in Naples. The young man, who has just turned 38, is currently in the area for a short visit.