In Naples, football is more than a sport. This southern city, famous for its natural beauties and rich history, is a place where men who become heroes are immortalized. They are worshipped.
Take, for instance, the reverential adoration inspired by the late Diego Maradona after leading I Partenopei to their first two Scudetti, in 1987 and 1990—establishing Napoli as a force to be reckoned with in Italy, in a league the wealthier northern clubs have a history of dominating.
This city of mostly working-class people quickly embraced a Maradona who himself came from humble beginnings, growing up in Villa Fiorito, an overcrowded shantytown in the Buenos Aires suburbs.
Victor Osimhen, like Maradona, is an underdog from a rough background, so perhaps the Napoli part of his story was always destined. But there was much adversity to overcome before, and even after, he got there.
