From the station, "Diego" calls out to the visitor, from the official Napoli store.
On the shirt in the window, the face of the star who died a year ago at the age of 60 appears in the heart of a fingerprint.
Symbol of "the legacy left by the Argentine legend", whose exploits are forever remembered, the commemorative tunic is worn by the players of the club in this month of November.
Produced in limited series, it is sold for the benefit of "charities" ... and sold out on the club's website.
For the visitor in search of memories, the immense fresco with the effigy of the leaping player, painted in the 1990s in the heart of the popular "Spanish quarters", generally constitutes the first stage of the pilgrimage.
A scooter passes in front of a mural depicting Argentine football legend Diego Maradona in the "Spanish quarters" of Naples, November 23, 2021 Carlo Hermann AFP
More often than not, there are stops in front of a crowd of drawings on the walls and posters of the film "The hand of God" - a reference to the expression that has become cult of the player to qualify his goal scored voluntarily by hand in the semi-finals of the 1986 World Cup - Paolo Sorrentino's tribute to 1980s Naples, in theaters this Wednesday in Italy.
Diego and the "normal people"
"It was important to come", assures Aïcha, 17, who braved the rain to come and discover the famous "mural", on this esplanade dedicated to the worship of "God" Maradona, with photos, flags, shirts and other relics .
The young woman came from Bari (Puglia) with her family to "see the way the city remembers him," she told AFP.
"You can see that it's not just the Napoli shirts but most of the teams he's played with, and pictures of the player, but also of the man. It's interesting how people look. normal people, not just supporters, have bonded with him. "
Posters of Argentinian football star Diego Maradona lined up in "Maradona square" in the "Spanish quarters" of Naples, November 23, 2021 Carlo Hermann AFP
Facundo Perez, 26, an Argentinian living in Europe, also came specially to Naples to "greet" Maradona, a year after his death.
"For me Diego is a god, to see the flags and the fact that he conquered the heart of Naples ... it's crazy. I came here to realize how much people love him," he observes. -he.
New images of the icon bloom regularly at the foot of Vesuvius.
The street artist Mario Casti, already author of "ten" of them for a year, was still hard at work this week to finalize a new one, for the anniversary.
"Greek God"
Maradona, idol of all Neapolitans, also inspired the sculptor Domenico Sepe, whose work will be installed Thursday in front of the former San Paolo stadium, renamed last December by the name of Maradona.
"The work was born from a personal requirement. On the announcement of his death, something came to be lacking in my daily life. And as a Neapolitan but also a Napoli tifoso and sculptor, I decided on him pay homage with a work that offers him eternity, "he told AFP, gazing at the barely finalized sculpture - the balloon has just been fixed - in a foundry in the Pianura district.
A sculptor with a classical vein, he wanted to make Maradona a "Greek God": the bronze encapsulates the player, his gaze concentrated and legs of fire, launched in a mad race with the ball at his feet, on a field in the shape of Argentina.
We recognize the "Diego" world champion with the Albiceleste in 1986, but wearing the Neapolitan jersey, emblematic N.10 on the back.
Maradona, all in muscles, appears there almost at "real size", he specifies.
Italian sculptor Domenico Sepe poses with his bronze work of Diego Maradona in his studio in Naples, November 22, 2021 Carlo Hermann AFP
Another statue will be installed in the stadium on Sunday before the game against Lazio Rome.
This meeting, the players will play it again with the famous jersey with the effigy of the idol.
Even if, for the city, the best tribute would be to win the national title, the "Scudetto" won only twice in the history of the club.
It was in 1987 and 1990, with Diego.
© 2021 AFP