Frozen in time, legends like Paolo Rossi and Diego Maradona will never fade away

Within 10 minutes of the final whistle, the sound of Wembley Trophies whacking against walls echoed through the concrete canyons of docklands Liverpool. The shout of “Rossi!” accompanied every shot and header. Kids poured from the tenements into the midsummer evening to pay homage to a man who two hours before had just been a name, another player from a faraway country of which they knew nothing. Hardly anything, anyway.

Paolo Rossi died on Thursday but for an entire generation the striker became immortal on 5 July, 1982. His hat-trick against Brazil in Italy’s 3-2 victory in the second group stage of the Spanish World Cup transformed him into a household name in homes that loved football. Nearly four decades later, when his death was announced, no one who recalls 1982 had to ask “who?” Most of the people saddened by the news saw very little of Rossi either live or from the comfort of their armchairs.

In an age where you can view almost every game that features Lionel Messi on TV and even the most obscure footballer is a click or two on a computer away, it is hard to imagine how exotic and exciting it was to see a player like Rossi. Broadcasts of foreign football was a very rare treat.

READ MORE: The genius and joy of Diego Maradona

Even Diego Maradona, whose passing last week caused global grief, was until Spain largely a name you read about in newspapers, a semi-mythic figure of intangible brilliance. Maradona, too, had a headline moment against Brazil in the second group stage, drop-kicking Batista to receive a red card as Argentina went down 3-1. It would be another four years before the full evidence of his genius was laid bare before an international audience. Rossi left Spain a hero; Maradona was dismissed by many as overrated.

There is little mystery in the game today. The all-seeing eye of the camera highlights every strength and weakness of a player. Before the mid-1980s TV coverage was so poor that it was hard to form a comprehensive view about anyone outside the team you supported and watched on a week-to-week basis. Yet one performance like Rossi’s in Espanyol’s Sarria stadium could plant someone in the collective consciousness. There was much more to the striker’s career – two Serie A titles, European Cup and Cup-Winners Cup wins – but 90 minutes in Barcelona turned him into something special; it froze his image in such an unforgettable manner that it came as a shock to find he was 64. Humans grow old. Icons never do.

Football appeals to that part of our psyche that does not mature. We fans rewind comfortably to fixed moments. Ray Clemence will always be running towards a rapturously applauding Kop on his return to Anfield with Tottenham, Maradona forever leaping with Peter Shilton. Every time we see a replay it is like a postcard from our youth; vivid, vibrant and evocative. The great joy of the game is that its transmissions from the past – unlike those of real life - are rarely maudlin. Rossi’s hat-trick is as thrilling and life-affirming as it was on that long-gone day in Catalonia.

A favourite old song on the radio or a forgotten smell of the past can provoke an onrush of painful emotions and tears. Football, with a few notable exceptions, evokes that part of the memory that echoes the excitement and erases negativity.

When David Bowie passed it felt like the end of an era; his genius was clear and stretched across decades. His records transported the listener back in time and summoned complex emotions. His loss made many fans confront their own mortality.

It is impossible to be sad watching Maradona’s greatest hits. The Argentinian’s finest moments elicit awe-struck laughter and a series of “wows.” Reflecting on his on-pitch escapades is an uplifting experience.

Players grow old but the game never does. The exploits of Rossi, Maradona and Clemence retain a freshness that feels indestructible and indelible.

Legends do not fade away. Their – and football’s - lingering gift is they make us feel young in the best possible way.

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