SI was right to sent Joe Posnanski to South Africa (even if it appears as though he wrote this after he returned home). 

“I may leave tomorrow,” Maradona said when it ended — leave meaning quit — and then he refocused and said he would have to think about it first, talk with people, wait for the sting and the sorrow to fade. Only it isn’t likely to fade soon. El Diego came to South Africa to become a hero again. He leaves instead with a $46 million Italian tax bill (at least according to the Italian government), heaps of newspaper clippings saying he failed, two decorative FIFA soccer balls and a profound sadness that he says is as deep as when he stopped playing soccer in the first place. It will be tough to get all that through customs.