How Diego Maradona's reconciliation with Pelé came to be, thanks to the La Noche del 10 cycle: "Dear black man, I want to give you a hug!"

Diego Armando Maradona and Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, had a relationship with many twists and turns. Although the Argentine 10 admired the Brazilian star with devotion, over time he threw various poisonous darts at him. “If he is Beethoven, I am the Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Bono of soccer, all together. Because I was the passion of soccer”, Diego once said, wanting to distance himself from the eternal comparison with the three-time world champion.

"Pelé made his debut with a kid... And he hit the jermu," Maradona said in 1998 in a remembered interview with Dolores Barreiro broadcast by El Rayo. "Pelé is a slave, he sold his heart to FIFA", he shot on that same occasion.

Despite this, in August 2005 there was a truce around La Noche del 10, the mega show that Diego hosted on El Trece. For the first episode, Maradona and the entire production wanted a strong guest. And producer Eduardo Coco Fernández came up with the idea that bringing Pelé along was a great idea.

This was recalled by Fernández himself on his Instagram account after the news of the death of the Brazilian was released. “The first program of the Diego cycle was coming and I wanted the first guest to be strong, mobilizing. They had been estranged for some time and were the two most important figures in football. Those who know me know that I am quite headstrong and when that idea came to my mind, the only thing I thought about was how to do it”, Fernández began his story.

“That's how I started making a thousand calls until I found who today is a great friend, Guille Basignani. He represented the star and as crazy as I was, he told me: 'I love it but we have to convince him, let's go to his house'. And so it was that in a matter of hours we were flying to Brazil. Pelé received us with two of his friends, Pepe and Pepito, two great people. I told him that it was what he wanted and Pelé doubted, I didn't know that Diego was in one of his best moments and when everything was falling apart I played a strong card: "Let's call Diego," Coco recalled.

The surprise was that Maradona answered the call and the reunion began to take shape from there. “We were with the phone in hands-free and I told him: 'Diego, I'm with Pelé who is listening to you.' And there the magic appeared: 'Dear black! How are you? Are you coming to my show? I want to give you a hug!'”, Fernández reconstructed the phrase that unlocked everything.

“Pelé, a Brazilian God, succumbed to the charisma of our G1OS. He came to the program, he played a song with the guitar that he really enjoyed doing and that later with joy and affection he gave to me and I still have", continued the producer in relation to the instrument with which the Brazilian sang a song to the Argentine in the program.

“Today you left, Pelé left and part of our history, of my history, leaves as with Diego. Thank you for everything dear Pelé, now there are two Gods of earth in heaven and surely a God who gave me the grace to know and enjoy them. Boa viajem, Pelé ”, Coco closed his message.

In 2018, Maradona and Pelé saw each other for the last time. It was during a promotional event for a major watch brand that took place in Switzerland. At that time, neither of them realized that the sound man had already opened his microphones and they were heard speaking in a low voice. Both agreed: they criticized Messi and said that he did not have the personality to lead a team.

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He came to the program, he played a song with the guitar that he really enjoyed doing and that later with joy and affection he gave to me and I still have", continued the producer in relation to the instrument with which the Brazilian sang a song to the Argentine in the program.