Naples couldn’t afford his like today, but it was the perfect place for him in the mid 80s. I remember reading a magazine piece about him at the time. The prostitutes partying with him in the hot tub is all I can recall from it. Sounded like good fun to me.
My other recollection is when he got kicked out of the '94 World Cup, which was held in the U.S.A. I was very disappointed by it. Not that Argentina had the horses to beat Brazil in that cup, but Maradona, even at 33, was still good fun to watch.
Owen’s? That goal was great but it was the pace and open spaces ahead of him rather than the dribbling skill that made that goal. Owen’s goal doesn’t come close to the sheer skill and madness on exhibit for Maradona’s.
Different players to be honest. All exceptional in their own way. The Ronaldos both exceptional goal scores. The others more the creative dynamos. We know what Suarez was like for us and I think his commonality with Maradona was that he actually improved the players around him. Also, both could be an utter liability as we know only too well. Messi just does something remarkable in every game but he is a quieter much more measured individual and much more reliable as a result so I would have to go for him.
I managed to find a clip of the goals from the Scotland vs Argentina match in 1979 (Dalglish and Hansen were both playing for Scotland as well). It’s not the best quality but I know people who went to that game who still rave on about Maradona to this day:
He dragged a poor Argentina team to victory and an even worse team to another final losing narrowly.
Napoli were the equivalent of say, Everton or Southampton and he inspired them to 2 League titles and UEFA Cup.
All that on shit pitches and players literally trying to cut him in half every game.
Diego redefined football for me and that in turn led me to find and fall in love with Liverpool.
Before 1986 World Cup, to me football was something you play in the yards/streets or watch in the stadium. Never thought TV could catch the vibe of this wonderful game. Now that was an god awesome World Cup with dozens of maestros orchestrating their own symphonies. But Maradona stood out. He epitomized all the talents on show.
After the World Cup I kept watching the odd sports programs we had on our sole, government-owned channel. One of the those programs was The Road to Wembley, on the FA Cup. The rest is history. Thank you Diego, rest in peace.
Ι was 10 and I was left disappointed at the time. I hadn’t really watched Maradona before except for various Mexico WC clips and I was expecting him to perform his magic all over again. He didn’t save from one amazing run against Brazil which produced Caniggia’s winner.
On another note, while he was head and shoulders above everyone else in Italy during the 80s and early 90s, it should be noted that his Napoli side did contain some very good players as well. Alemao, Careca, Ferrara and Carnevale were nothing to be sniffed at. They certainly weren’t world beaters by themselves and it was Maradona that made them winners, but the notion that he did it all by himself is erroneous.
For the sake of fairness I have just looked at both, which are both below. Maradona beat 5 players from the halfway line rounded the keeper and held of the defender. Owen beat two. Good goal but in short, don’t be silly:
I think going to Napoli was his biggest mistake as the local hoods got their grubby hands on him and plied him copiously with drugs and started his downfall.
If memory serves, he first got addicted to painkillers in Spain after Goikoetxea broke his leg. However, it was when he moved to Naples that he was introduced to cocaine.
Maradona and George Best, so similar. Magicians with the football, plagued by addiction. Accomplished much with their talents but also left the promise of so much more. Imagine either (or both) of those guys with today’s training regimes and the discipline of a Cristiano Ronaldo or a James Milner.
