Just saw this. RIP. What a player.
Age 60. Genuine genius with a ball
Just saw this. RIP. What a player.
Taken by the hand of God. RIP
You have to “hand” it to him he lead some rock and roll lifestyle that man
RIP an all time great
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Same day as George Best....Sppooky
RIAC
Unbelievable player. Lucky enough to see him at Old Trafford ‘83-84 season.
Kicked from a-z for most of his career and would get up and torment the opposition again and again.
Now there’s a man who liked a watch or two.....
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RIP Diego, the most famous man in the world when I was seven years old, so the defining footballer of my generation. Flawed genius doesn't seem to cover it.
We all (well, those of us alive in 1986) recall the 'Hand of God' goal but his second goal just minutes later was one of the finest ever. RIP Diego.
I always thought he was going to live forever the amount of close calls he had.
What a genius with the ball and what a life he had. The documentary Diego Maradona is well worth a watch. RIP
For me there have only ever been two true geniuses on the World stage of football, Pele sadly before my time in being able to see him play regularly but enough footage and praise from other great footballers to put him in that bracket. And then secondly Maradona, I was old enough to watch many of his games and luckily I did see him play live. To me personally the best there’s ever been, his running with the ball was something to behold just slick & very pacy and he could turn a game in one or two strides completely whether it be with a pass, dribble or goal. Not as good in the air as Pele but that’s mainly due to his height, but individually he was the better player.
To many Englanders hold a grudge against the ‘hand of god’ goal in 86’ but many, many more have cheated on the big stage and got away with it. But hardly any have scored the standard of the 2nd goal against England in that same game, to dribble the ball nearly 2/3rds of the pitch leaving 2/3 players from England stranded in no mans land and then only to put a top class goalkeeper like Shilton firmly on his arse taking the ball around him and slotting it home.
An astounding player all his career for both club & country, thank you Maradona for the memories.
Love him or loath him, Diego Maradona is the greatest footballer of all time. In an era of ploughed-field pitches and opponents so dedicated to injuring him he never knew whether he’d finish a game or end up in a hospital, he provided skill that is unrivalled.
He also drove clubs in multiple countries to domestic success and his country to the ultimate honour.
There will never be another Diego Maradona.
Greatest player of all time in my opinion, certainly the most naturally talented ever to lace up a pair of boots even if he doesn’t have lists of Ballon D’ors like Messi & CR7. What he did with Argentina and Napoli was phenomenal, his talent was supernatural.
The docu-movie made by the same guy that did the Senna & Amy Winehouse ones is worth a watch, mostly centred on his time in Italy, very interesting.
I had the pleasure of watching him play at a charity match back in about 05/06, at Old Trafford. Even in his mid 40’s and 20stone he was easily the best player on the pitch, so much time on the ball - he was levels above younger fitter recently retired pro’s.
RIP.
In life, Maradona. In death, Mara-goner. RIP.
PS I remember Lineker recalling playing alongside him in some sort of all-star fixture. Before the game Maradona was bored and wandered off and started doing a sort of mega-keepy-uppy routine, smashing the ball as high into the sky as he could, meeting it as it came down by one-touch volleying straight up into the sky again. He did it nine times before getting bored and stopping. Lineker had never seen anything like it and frequently asked other great players he encountered to try and emulate it. Zidane did best, with three.
There's wonderful footage of him warming up before a Napoli game, and spontaneously doing tricks with the ball as 'Live is Life' is played in the stadium -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vashrNoXTE
They still play it at Napoli in homage.
Only 27 so two things made me appreciate him much more...
The Movie and visiting Naples.
Cruyff, Messi then a toss up between Maradona and Best, who both had their issues and demons.
Maradona will be remembered in the UK for his Hand of God, which certainly turned that game and perhaps cost England another World Cup, but what lots of people forget is the sitter Lineker missed at the end.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
For me Messi and N
Maradona are very similar. Burst of speed from standing start, low centre of gravity, get kicked off the ball for 90 mins, short.
I’d say Messi edges him though because he has two equally good feet. Close call though.
RIP Diego. Still remember the world cup and "The Hand of God." Regardless you were amazing.
RIP, anyone who can get away with a double Rolex is right character in my eyes, loathed for the hand of god but also amazed us with his other goal..
Always wore two watches, what a guy....!
Last edited by inspector gadget; 25th November 2020 at 20:24.
The art of ball control, balance, and the magic of DM. Only Pele comes close.
RIP Maradona.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Messi has no idea what it's like to get kicked. Nobody has been able to go near him his whole career. Just look at the number of games he's played.
It's a debate everyone has their opinion on for their own reasons and some of it comes down to era and what they believe makes a truly great player.
For example, I see Messi as a phenomenal talent who has played the game at one club where he's always been the main man and never tested himself outside of his comfort zone. Meanwhile Ronaldo has a very similar record but has been the best player in four different leagues in four different countries and led his country to international honours. So I see the whole career and its challenges as defining truly great which is why I place Ronaldo above Messi.
Talk sport were saying this evening that Best was his inspiration and he idolised him when he was growing up.
The channel 4 documentary a couple of weeks ago was brilliant. The things he did at Napoli when Serie A was dominated by the north of country at the time will probably never be repeated.
A life lived on and off the pitch. Floored? Yes. A genius? Absolutely.
For me the greatest of my generation. RIP.
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My favourite photo of Maradona
://
Greatest ever and confirmed by lineker
Lineker has stated (just earlier this year) that he regards Messi as the best player ever and set out his reasoning why he ranks him above Maradona, eg:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52827428
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...not-close.html
(Not that I agree, for what little that's worth.)
His statement today was careful not to contradict that: 'By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably [NB] the greatest of all time.'
The endless GOAT debate has its own dedicated thread I see, but in simply celebrating the player here, that footage in Skier's YouTube link is utterly breathtaking.
You are doing it wrong, need to watch that with the original commentary from Argetinian radio:
I remember him from the 2006 Argentina versus Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. He was in the VIP, exactly opposite to where we were sitting and it was a right show to watch him and his entourage. The score was 3-0 at halftime and the second half was a bit sluggish until Pekerman brought 19-year old Messi, who then single-handedly finished the Serbians with an assist and a goal of his own, with 22 year old Tevez scoring a third goal. That was the day Messi became a football god. Maradonna freaked out royally on the stands, it was a great picture to see the old hero and the new guy in the same stadium.
As a Southend fan of 55 years I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing to many footballing greats, but echo the sentiments of the above post. My eldest daughter was a week or so old when Diego broke our hearts in 1986....so it was with a bit of resistance I went to watch him play a couple of years later at Ossis Ardiles testimonial, when he ran on the pitch the whole stadium stood and applauded. The skills I witnessed that evening were for me from another universe. I saw Best, I saw Ronaldo, I saw Charlton, Gascoigne but for me Maradona is the best player I have seen live. RIP
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Last edited by wildheart; 26th November 2020 at 10:20.
If he'd received the protection from the refs that players get today you'd never have got the ball off him.
No point talking about who was the best of all time but he was the best of his imo.
Everyone seems to forget that in 1994 Diego Maradona was given a suspended jail sentence of two years and 10 months for shooting journalists with an air gun. What annoyed me at the time was that there were children in the area at the time.
Last edited by Xantiagib; 27th November 2020 at 11:39.