Diego Armando Maradona 1960 - 2020

Oh look.. The scurrilous post delving into Maradonas private life was removed .....

I wonder why ??

US2 wrote: »

The similarities in these goals is eery

https://youtu.be/l25IQqnksCs

Very similar indeed, however Messi was playing on a stunning state of the art pitch, Maradona was playing on a patchwork quilt, that was constantly shifting under foot (according to Gary Lineker)

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Peter Shilton.... seems like such a bitter old man. And he's pro Brexit!

Well fúck 'im then! And does his missus know that?

partyguinness wrote: »

Yeah I am little bemused by the sudden George Best love fest. Absolutely zero comparison in my books. Knocking in 6 goals against the mighty Northampton in a 3rd Rd FA Cup game ain't doing it for me.

Well both died on the same day, albeit 15 years apart. And if 6 against Northampton isn't good enough for you what about the two he scored against Benfica in Lisbon (aged about 12) to win a European Cup tie?

Bear in mind Benfica were one of the truly great teams of the 1960s. Twice EC winners (61 and 62) and runners up another three times (63,65,68).

I'd have Maradona ahead of Best, of course, but Georgie was a bit special.

Maradona's personal demons are well documented. More documented than most. Hell, even our own Paul McGrath admitted to playing PL games either still pissed or hungover.

What is annoying is how Maradona was thrown under the bus in 1994. This whole "high on drugs" etc, the apparent crazy goal celebrations is just a load of tabloid bollocks

I read the official FIFA report. Maradona was explicitly cleared of cheating or attempting to cheat. It was a complete fcuk up. The Ladybook version:

Maradona had a personal trainer in a bid to help him get fit for the WC. This personal trainer was a former South American body building champion. The trainer had Maradona on dietery supplements etc. All perfectly legal and above board.

When they got to Boston, the personal trainer had ran out of a particular supplement and literally walked into a pharmacy in Boston and picked up the next best thing as a subtitute. Now this substitute contained ephedrine which is a common ingredient found in every bathroom cabinet up and down the country and used to unblock noses.

Every team doctor is given a list before a tournement with a list of banned substances. Like TUIs in cycling etc if a player is on mediciation etc then this is declared. But because Maradona had a personal trainer he was not given the list and had no idea as he had no communication with the official Argentinian team doctor. Sounds mad now but this was 26 years ago.

The fcuk up was that the personal trainer gave Maradona this supplement which inadvertently triggered the positive result. It was not an attempt to cheat and FIFA acknowledged this.

If it had actually been declared beforehand there would have been zero problem. It sounds comical and almost unbelievable but this is all from the official FIFA Report.

The personal trainer was also banned for his part and in fact the report has harsher words for the trainer and the Argentinian FA for not policing the matter better.

Oh yes. Ephedrine is a stimulant and not a drug but of course that does not stop the whole "druggy" narrative. A failed drugs test gets you a 4 year ban in athletics. A stimulant result gets you a 3 month ban but yet Maradona was handed the same suspension as the cocaine test in 1991.

By contrast the Spanish player Camacho tested positive for the exact same substance at the 86 WC but got a slap on the wirst after blagging his way out it. No suspension or anything of the sort.

Well, Paolo Maldini said he was the best player he ever faced. That's good enough for me.

even his name is fcuking special.

Don't think "Nigel Smith" would have been a world class footballer.

partyguinness wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU9kactY4Yc

1990 Napoli (as reigning champs) v AC Milan

This is a great ding dong battle. Mightly stuff- not a free flowing 4-4 draw but just the way everything is a battle. Quality.

You can see the way Milan are pretty damn quick to close down Maradona. I watched that great Milan team a lot but you never saw them having to react so quick to an opposition player like they do here. Just shows you the respect/fear they afforded him.

What a player Ruud Gullit was as well. Majestic. The Italian league was really on another level from the mid 80's to the early/mid 90's.

greenspurs wrote: »

I meant that because of who posted it, it was just removed .

It was very tasteless, and a bit petty, and without foundation....


Amazing anecdotes, and stories from so many players about D.A.M , just goes to show how fcuking special he was on the pitch..

Agreed. It was an arsehole comment. If it was a non-mod they would have been banned immediately.

Pretty sad that an RIP thread about the greatest footballer of all time gets the eternal whingers shuffling to their keyboards to start slagging. if you want to attack his character / personal life do it on another thread. Have some shred of respect.

GT89 wrote: »

Andre Villas Boas thinks Fifa should get all teams should retire the number ten shirt. Whilst I am very saddened by Diego's loss, I think this is a tad over the top.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/diego-maradona-andre-villas-boas-calls-for-fifa-to-retire-no10-for-every-club

Yeah while I am deeply saddened that is completely OTT. What happens when Pele dies...


The #10 should be kept on even as a testament to Maradona to remind us of his talent and how lucky we were to have him warts and all...

partyguinness wrote: »

Well, Paolo Maldini said he was the best player he ever faced. That's good enough for me.

As did Franco Baresi who is ranked right up there.

I re-watched the HBO documentary last night. I'm going to watch the Mexico one now which I've yet to see.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

. Probably the same way a lot of Irish fans won't forget Thierry Henry's handball, that cost us a chance at a penalty shootout to reach the World Cup, but 11 years 7 days 17 hours & 36 minutes on, we've largely dropped the resent we still hold for it!!.
.

Naw, people still pissing on about it to this day as if TH was Cromwell.

jmayo wrote: »

No way.
Napoli had money, but never at the level of Chelsea or most definitely City would have where they could go shopping.

.

Worth noting that for an apparent dirt poor club they still managed to go out a break the world record transfer fee (yes the source of the funds is well commented).

That is like Burnley going out today and breaking the world transfer fee to bring in Mpape. Laughable.

Iscreamkone wrote: »

To stand out now you need olympic sprinter speed, magnificent two footed skills and unbelievable strength to overcome tackles from beasts like Virgil VD. To have all this, and the football nous needed to stand out at the very top ... at only 18... is going to be very hard to find again in my opinion.

The great soccer writer Brian Glanville, was fond of pointing out that one of the game's enduring attractions was that physique does not make the footballer. I think, in general, he's right although that may be changing with the increased emphasis on a scientific approach, ie statistical, approach to identifying and grooming young talent.

Write down a list of the very greatest players from the past 50 years. Any list would surely include:
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Zinnedine Zidane
Diego Maradona
Johan Cruyff
Franz Beckenbauer
Pele

to name only the very pick of the crop. There are numerous other great players just underneath that category. They are all of different nationalities, shapes and sizes and some with, outwardly at least, great deficiencies. Messi is tiny, Zidane was slow, Maradona could only use one foot (Yes. True. Look at THAT goal again. He hardly touches the ball with his right foot. Look at the similar goal he scored against Belgium in the semi final and see how he contorted himself to use his only good foot rather than attempt a shot with his right. "The best one-footed player since Puskas" --who was a very similar stocky shape-- as somebody once pointed out)

Zidane and Ronaldo were magnificent 6 foot plus athletic specimens. Messi could have been a jockey. Cruyff was impossibly skinny. As was George Best.

Nowadays, however, those responsible for talent identification and development want big fast powerful specimens. It is becoming something of a template. All the more reason why we need some misshapen genius like Maradona or Messi or any one of the tiny Spaniards who dominated football in the noughties to come along and defy the odds again.

US2 wrote: »

Add Gerd Muller and Eusabio to that list ahead of Zidane

And Maldini ahead of both of them. Best players ever doesn't have to be forwards with token Beckenbauer