Diego Maradona: a flawed genius who had Argentina, Naples and the Pope on his team

So goodbye Diego 1960-2020, ironically 15 years to the day that George Best left us, without doubt one of the most gifted players to ever lace a football boot but will he be remembered globally as a legend?

I looked up one of the OED definitions of legend and it stated, “an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field”

Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960 in Buenos Aires. Although originally from a poor working-class family his footballing prowess shone early and he was playing professionally for Argentinos Juniors, then on to Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli and Sevilla before returning home.

There’s no doubt that footballing wise he was a genius, but a tortured one. On the field at times he was like something from a different planet, but was that one of his biggest issues?

For all the highs there were so many lows, red cards, serious disciplinary problems, numerous failed drug tests and of course, for the whole English nation, that ‘goal’.

Hand of god whatever, it was against the laws of the game and also the spirit.

However as a man whose been in love with the beautiful game for over 50 years, 34 years on I know that if the tables had been turned and Gary Lineker punched it into Argentina’s goal, we’d all still be chuckling about it today.