Diego Armando Maradona. Perhaps the greatest footballer in history, certainly one of the most impactful, now sadly dead at the age of 60.
Football foes to Heaven reads the headline which we have recreated from the Italian Gazzetto Dela Sport today.
He played twice in Dublin, in a UNICEF exhibition match in 1979 when he came on as a second-half teenage substitute against a League of Ireland selection and then again in April the following year for a full international against the Republic of Ireland managed for the first time by Eoin Hand.
That side contained Kevin Moran, Steve Heighway and Chris Hughton but they lost 1-0 with Maradona winning and then providing the free-kick that was nodded home by Jose Valencia.
Six years later he was to secure his place in history when leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with one of the greatest virtuoso performances by any player in a major event.
He was scrappy but scintillating on the ball. His play against England was incredible, including with Hand of God goal that defined him in the eyes of the British tabloid media. The rest of the world though was mesmerised.
He led Napoli to two Serie A titles and brought the entire city to life during a dark period in its history.
It has already been announced this morning that the stadium in the city will be renamed in his honour.
I can vividly remember watching that World Cup from the USA where I was on a student visa at the time. He lit up the tournament and created memories that have not faded over time.
He was a genius with many flaws. A whole new generation will remember him more for the madness of his paid appearances in the stands at the 2016 World Cup where years of alcohol and drug use had seen him ballon into a comic book version of the footballing God that had graced the 1980’s.
Time is a healer though and it is that greatness that is remembered this morning.
There is not any great surprise that he is gone but there is still a sense of real shock, as there was with the passing of Mohammed Ali. Legends that graced our lives with their genius and who will live forever in our memory.
Sport for Business Partners
