| RIP Maradona 16:33 - Nov 25 with 13368 views | AberystwythR |
Multiple reports coming out that he has passed away [Post edited 25 Nov 2020 16:34]
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| RIP Maradona on 17:21 - Nov 25 with 2096 views | Nov77 |
I hope terry fenwick doesn’t watch any tv tonight, going to be some painful memories!
Two of maradonna’s most famous goals, neither should have stood. |  |
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| RIP Maradona on 17:27 - Nov 25 with 2074 views | CiderwithRsie |
| RIP Maradona on 17:01 - Nov 25 by Nov77 |
I went to Ossie's testimonial at spurs just to seem him play, him and hoddle playing together was pretty special.
I don't think he was the greatest, Pele was.
a fat little druggy cheat? yes, but he was some player. |
Many years ago I read an article about South American football by a Brit who'd lived there (think it was in When Saturday Comes) which said that it was in the culture there that what we saw as cheating they saw as the underdog putting one over on the powers that be.
I don't buy into it but I can sort of see how that fitted a guy from the sort of background Maradona came from (and why he was such a hero in Naples, which is that sort of city too.)
I was livid, but I got over it. And Maradona was great. RIP.
(Good article on the game here https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/26/world-cup-questions-were-englan btw) | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 17:27 - Nov 25 with 2073 views | Konk |
As has been said, an absolute genius and was kicked to bits every week for his trouble.
My best mate at school was from a Neapolitan family, and in the days before Football Italia, it was amazing piling round some house with 30-40 Italians on a Sunday, to watch Napoli when Maradona played for them and took them to the title.
I finally went to the San Paolo in 2001, and it was incredible how obsessed the city still was with Maradona - every taxi, restaurant, bar and shop seemed to have a picture of Maradona, years after he'd stopped playing. He was pretty much a God.
I had this shirt when I was at school - one of the great iconic shirts of the eighties.
I wonder if like Paul Gascoigne, he might not have led a happier life, if he'd never kicked a football. |  |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| RIP Maradona on 17:36 - Nov 25 with 2026 views | Juzzie |
Comparisons are inevitable but when talking about Pele, Puskas, Eusabio, Maradonna, Best, Messi and so on I think it’s really difficult to have a definitive ‘best’.
They all played in different era’s, different styles, different personalities, different everything.
I think they are all the best for their own reasons. |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 17:37 - Nov 25 with 2025 views | Noelmc |
Certainly the best footballer I've seen in my lifetime. Messi comes close but never performed at the World Cup, whereas Maradona was amazing in 1986 & 1990.
I saw the fantastic documentary film focussing on his time at Napoli, earlier this year and would recommend it as must-watch material for all football fans.
https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/diego-maradona |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 17:38 - Nov 25 with 2021 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| RIP Maradona on 16:49 - Nov 25 by sprocket |
Very sad. Wonderful player. More of a character than Messi but Messi pips it by a short head as a footballer. |
Maradona in this day and age would surpass everyone; whereas I’d say Messi and Ronaldo wouldn’t be half the players they are playing on quagmires and getting kicked to bits week in, week out.
Like most geniuses, a troubled individual blighted by a retinue of leeches hanging on for the free ride.
Regrettably I’ll probably be cutting and pasting the above for when Gazza leaves us.
RIP Diego Armando Maradona |  |
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| RIP Maradona on 17:55 - Nov 25 with 1949 views | A40Bosh |
| RIP Maradona on 16:48 - Nov 25 by Antti_Heinola |
Guess he punched the bucket.
Probably the greatest player that ever lived. A true genius. I got over the handball years ago. I reckon about 95% of all footballers have done soemthing like that in their careers, and all the 'cheat' stuff has been well OTT over the years. Yes, he did drugs, but jesus christ, I'd like to see anyone live under the pressure he lived under in those days.
RIP Diego. |
Guess he punched the bucket.
I'm gonna use that one! |  |
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| RIP Maradona on 18:03 - Nov 25 with 1925 views | ParkRoyalR |
| RIP Maradona on 16:49 - Nov 25 by sprocket |
Very sad. Wonderful player. More of a character than Messi but Messi pips it by a short head as a footballer. |
As a passer and a team player that could be debated, as an individual player and someone who's individual brilliance elevated average teams, no comparison. Not sure a single one of his countrymen would hold that opinion. GOAT imho. | | | |
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| RIP Maradona on 18:04 - Nov 25 with 1919 views | NorthantsHoop |
Regardless of all his flaws and his antics, he was a fantastic footballer and could destroy the opposition with sublime skill. |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 18:07 - Nov 25 with 1902 views | qpr_1968 |
| RIP Maradona on 16:44 - Nov 25 by Phildo |
certainly my pick for greatest of my lifetime.
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quality. | |
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| RIP Maradona on 18:37 - Nov 25 with 1842 views | eastside_r |
Unbelievable genius of a player. Second best of all time for me. |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 18:55 - Nov 25 with 1817 views | denhamhoop2 |
Fantastic footballer who would have thrived in the current era with referees protecting talented players from being kicked out of games. Remember having a Football Italia video and he curled the ball over the head of a defender put on the line. Had real issues away from the pitch and a massive ego in the film Maradona he joins team mates in singing Maradona is God. Did suffer probably the most brutal tackle ever by Goecoechea who is not in the screen when he launces into his "tackle". There will be a state funeral in Argentina who adore him unlike Messi because he never truly left Argentina | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 18:58 - Nov 25 with 1811 views | toboboly |
Hell of a cheat |  |
| Sexy Asian dwarves wanted. |
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| RIP Maradona on 19:02 - Nov 25 with 1800 views | Juzzie |
| RIP Maradona on 18:58 - Nov 25 by toboboly |
Hell of a cheat |
I guess Henry will be remembered as being a hell of a cheat too. | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 19:05 - Nov 25 with 1793 views | flynnbo |
| RIP Maradona on 19:02 - Nov 25 by Juzzie |
I guess Henry will be remembered as being a hell of a cheat too. |
And those who dive for penalties-we've had a few! |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 19:09 - Nov 25 with 1782 views | toboboly |
| RIP Maradona on 19:02 - Nov 25 by Juzzie |
I guess Henry will be remembered as being a hell of a cheat too. |
Sorry, couldn't care less about a fat, cheating drug addict. Far more important things this year. | |
| Sexy Asian dwarves wanted. |
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| RIP Maradona on 19:12 - Nov 25 with 1775 views | ngbqpr |
If you're still struggling to get over the handball, Rs fan Russell Chapman (who I'm sure a good few of you will know) just posted this on FB -hard to argue!
Who to blame for England's exit from the 1986 World Cup in order of blameworthiness.
1. Ali Bin Nasser (referee). I mean how the actual f*ck can you miss that?
2. Bogdan Dochev (lino). Saw it, but didn't tell the ref cos 'he didn't ask me'
3. Peter Shilton. 6 foot keeper outjumped by 5' 5" urchin.
4. Gary Lineker. How the f*ck did you miss that header?
5. Peter Reid. Speed up Reidy ffs
6. Terry Fenwick. Ok you were on a yellow...
7. Bobby Robson. If he'd played Barnsey from the start...
8. Steve Hodge. I mean, come on what the f*ck were you doing?
9. Terry Butcher. Almost er..got...er...there
10. Diego Armando Maradona. Cheated. Like every footballer who's ever played the game. |  |
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| RIP Maradona on 19:20 - Nov 25 with 1750 views | dezzar |
| RIP Maradona on 19:09 - Nov 25 by toboboly |
Sorry, couldn't care less about a fat, cheating drug addict. Far more important things this year. |
Is that you Nigel | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 19:33 - Nov 25 with 1707 views | WokingR |
| RIP Maradona on 19:09 - Nov 25 by toboboly |
Sorry, couldn't care less about a fat, cheating drug addict. Far more important things this year. |
Sorry, have to admit that this was my first thought too. |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 19:33 - Nov 25 with 1678 views | 2Thomas2Bowles |
NO ONE would be complaining if an England player has done the same
First saw him in the 80s at Wemberly, came out on his own before the game doing tricks with the ball. just stunning
Not my favourite all-time player but a true legend on the pitch.
I think he was the closest to Best in comparison. both had their demons both the same date of death (Best 59)
R I P |  |
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| RIP Maradona (n/t) (n/t) on 19:53 - Nov 25 with 1671 views | quickpassrotter |
| RIP Maradona on 16:48 - Nov 25 by Antti_Heinola |
Guess he punched the bucket.
Probably the greatest player that ever lived. A true genius. I got over the handball years ago. I reckon about 95% of all footballers have done soemthing like that in their careers, and all the 'cheat' stuff has been well OTT over the years. Yes, he did drugs, but jesus christ, I'd like to see anyone live under the pressure he lived under in those days.
RIP Diego. |
[Post edited 25 Nov 2020 20:08]
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| RIP Maradona on 19:54 - Nov 25 with 1670 views | ParkRoyalR |
| RIP Maradona on 19:12 - Nov 25 by ngbqpr |
If you're still struggling to get over the handball, Rs fan Russell Chapman (who I'm sure a good few of you will know) just posted this on FB -hard to argue!
Who to blame for England's exit from the 1986 World Cup in order of blameworthiness.
1. Ali Bin Nasser (referee). I mean how the actual f*ck can you miss that?
2. Bogdan Dochev (lino). Saw it, but didn't tell the ref cos 'he didn't ask me'
3. Peter Shilton. 6 foot keeper outjumped by 5' 5" urchin.
4. Gary Lineker. How the f*ck did you miss that header?
5. Peter Reid. Speed up Reidy ffs
6. Terry Fenwick. Ok you were on a yellow...
7. Bobby Robson. If he'd played Barnsey from the start...
8. Steve Hodge. I mean, come on what the f*ck were you doing?
9. Terry Butcher. Almost er..got...er...there
10. Diego Armando Maradona. Cheated. Like every footballer who's ever played the game. |
Great post,
Never forgave Shilton for digging out Paul Parker at Italia 90 when German free-kick deflected of Parker's press and looped over him in slow motion, as he doddered and fell backwards, barely getting off the ground
Always bitching about Maradona to deflect blame from himself, should have been quicker off his line and punched clear, end off. | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 19:58 - Nov 25 with 1658 views | traininvain |
My brother wrote this about Maradona and I thought it’s worth sharing:
I know Maradona enjoys an — ahem — mixed legacy in this country. He’s a cheat, he’s a drug addict, he’s an embarrassment, etc. What I would like to do here is to acknowledge all those things and attempt to explain why, despite all that, he remains so important, so magnificent.
We can start with the on-pitch brilliance, with which we’re probably all by now long since familiar. That low centre of gravity, the ball skills, the vision, the leadership. Evading half the England team as they attempt to hack him to bits; punching a hole clean through the middle of the Belgian defence; juggling the ball during a pre-match warm up. It’s all been very well documented and I’m sure it will be the go-to for eulogies in the days ahead.
What I think has sometimes been overlooked is his sheer physical bravery. Playing in an era where players were strong enough to do each other real damage, playing the way he did on pitches often little better that potato fields; he was as tough as nails. This video, in particular, is an unforgettable series of clips of Diego riding challenges that seem to be intended to maim or kill him outright.
Then there are his achievements. Obviously, the World Cup, yes Napoli in Serie A and Europe. It’s a singular body of work we will probably never see again in football; the best player on the planet sat in the middle of a side that’s not really at his level, willing them on to greatness through sheer force of personality. Again, all well documented.
What I would like to focus on here are the two elements of Maradona that I feel are less commonly spoken about; the two elements which have always made him significant to me, and many millions of others across the planet.
First and foremost, Maradona conducted the single most glorious affair with the ball that the game will ever see. It’s instructive here to make the first of what will probably be several comparisons to Leo Messi, for which I can only apologise.
Watch Messi with a football; it’s his pal, trundling along by his side like a faithful dog, off on an adventure with its master, loyal and obedient. Maradona was different; you watch him with the ball — playing, warming up, goofing around in front of the cameras — and there’s an intimacy that simply doesn’t exist with any other player. There’s a finesse to his touch and a fascination in his eyes that belies the many thousands of hours he spent as a child and a young man trying to understand everything he could about this object. It’s visibly the geographic centre of his universe and he was devoted to it, even as he grew older and less able to play.
This is why many of the best clips of Diego are the ones where it’s just him and a football, and the best of all are where he doesn’t seem to know the camera is there. Doing keepie ups with his shins, juggling with his shoulders higher than I can kick a ball, backspinning it with the underside of his feet so it returns to him. It’s a love story; a dance, glorious and balletic, and his magic was never more fully in effect than in those moments, lost in a reverie. It’s the reason the famous footage of his warm up to Love Is Life is arguably THE iconic Diego moment, even more than the match footage. You can see the eternal child in him as he stretches out and explores the frontiers of what he and the ball can do together, and it humanises him even at the apex of his brilliance.
If my affinity for Maradona is rooted in Diego the Lover, let me say a word here too for Diego the Fighter, because that second aspect remains a huge huge part of his impact, and I don’t think it’s always well understood in the UK.
Half my family are Argentinean, and it’s a country I’ve spent a fair bit of time in. It’s a complicated place, and a complex culture. Football is a religion there, and Maradona remains a God, in a way that Messi, for all his superabundance of not-of-this-Earth talent, never will. Why is that the case, and why is the Hand of God incident, so central to the Maradona mythos, viewed so differently there, petty nationalism aside?
Three main reasons, as far as I can see.
The first is a high tolerance for what can only really be described as cheating. Argentinean culture is often, at its heart, Italian culture; one needs only look at the architecture, the food or even the people to know that. The country, as currently constituted, was largely built by Italian immigrants, and they retain that sneaking Italian admiration for achievements conducted off the books, so to speak.
Maradona himself was quite clear that beating the English in the manner he did was infinitely preferable to having done so by fair means; locally the goal in question was perceived of evidence of his daring, his street smarts. For what it’s worth, it’s always seemed to me that English football lives in something of a state of delusion as to its own moral rectitude; if the first goal was an example of Maradona’s low cunning, it’s quite well documented that Terry Butcher et al attempted to prevent the second by chopping their opponent down at the knees. There’s cheating and then there’s cheating, of course.
The second reason is Maradona’s background. He came from nothing. From actual dirt poverty, on a level that probably hasn’t existed in England within living memory. While the English will always love a working class hero, in Argentina that impulse is all the stronger; it’s an essential part of the Maradona mythos that he climbed from nothing and showed deference to no one. In that sense, his flaws only add to his appeal — he’s a bona fide man of the people who never once pretended to be anything more than he was; a street kid with street kid flaws who happened to have been gifted the soul of a poet.
The final reason is, for me, the most poignant of the three. National sentiment over the Falklands/Las Malvinas is relatively poorly understood outside Argentina. There’s a tremendous amount of pain and anger, commonly assumed to be directed against the English. But that’s not the case, in my experience. Spend some time in Argentina, talk to the locals and it becomes apparent, even at a distance of 40 years, that the Falklands conflict is a gaping hole in the nation’s pride. But there’s also a deep wellspring of love for England and English culture; it’s a nation that plays polo, (largely) reveres the monarchy, rabidly follows English football and loudly proclaims itself to be spiritually European, much to the chagrin of its neighbours. They’re no fans of Thatcher, but — hey — they’re not alone on that front.
What needs to be understood is how the Falklands conflict looks from the Argentinean perspective. A military government sent their boys, some essentially kids, into war with the English with inadequate training and equipment. Care packages from home were requested and did not reach their intended recipients, being raided instead by the military. This, in addition to some of the terrible treatment already afforded to the wider populace by said government. The pain and anger of the Falklands conflict isn’t an unfinished dialogue between Argentina and England, it’s an unfinished dialogue that Argentina is still working through with itself. You can draw a direct line from that suffering and humiliation to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, it’s all the same pain.
Why does this matter for Maradona? Because the Hand of God, taken in context of the elements above, represented for Argentina and for Argentineans a moment of profound depuration, wherein they were able to cast off some of their pain and degradation. He struck a blow for all those who had suffered; not just in the conflict itself, but at the hands of the junta. He gave a release to the great unspoken tension within the nation’s life, and reinserted some pride into the national character. That he did it by cheating made it all the sweeter; like a thief in the night, he stole back for Argentina a dignity thought lost. And he followed it up by scoring probably the greatest goal the sport will ever see.
People in this country talk endlessly about David Beckham’s 2001 free kick against Greece. Beckham’s goal prevented England from having to go to a play off to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals. Against Ukraine. Those were the stakes. It’s still a big deal nearly two decades later.
Try to imagine, for a moment, what that 1986 quarter final meant to the people of Argentina. It’s David Beckham, Robin Hood and Winston Churchill rolled into one, with the additional bonus of our hero having unapologetically emerged from absolutely grinding poverty. Obviously, he didn’t stop there either — he was absolutely electric in each of the knockout games, and won the trophy virtually single handed. The sheer romance of it all is nigh on unbearable.
I know there is the other view of Maradona; the drugs, the weight gain, the bad behaviour in public. He’s an easy figure to mock, utterly fallible and brought to Earth by his appetites, in every sense. But he never pretended to be anything other than what he was, never really bothered to hide his flaws. He delivered such joy to so many people, and — at his best — he was so full of life and possessed of such enormous character; he genuinely made you believe that anything was possible.
He also played the game with his heart on his sleeve, for good or ill. Less a smoothly calibrated professional of the type that dominates the modern game, more an overgrown schoolboy living out his dreams on the playground and then waking up to find they’d all come true.
That’s the Argentina end of things. We could talk about Napoli too, but I’m far less equipped to speak to that, and the eponymous documentary released last year covers it very well.
Diego Maradona’s life is a modern-day fairy tale. A fairy tale with bucketloads of substance abuse, but a fairy tale nonetheless. It’s the reason that you will find a picture of him on or around every bar in Buenos Aires, the reason his image is plastered all over Napoli and the reason I worshipped him as a child. He’s the representative of a genuine underclass, hailing from a nation whose best days are probably behind it, who by brilliance and force of personality upset the natural order of things and delivered catharsis to his people in the country of Argentina and the city of Naples. Not only that, but he did so while playing with a grace and style that were and remain all his own.
There will be other footballers, brilliant footballers, who will eclipse his deeds. Messi arguably already has. Others who are far more professional, whose careers stretch longer and who keep it together better. There will never be another player with a talent ceiling as high as Diego’s. There will never be another player with an ability to bend an entire tournament to their will as Diego did when at his best. There will never be another player whose peak will be so stratospherically high from both a football and cultural perspective. There will never be another player who will make a football dance the way he did.
They’ve just announced three days of national mourning in Argentina. Hopefully the above paints a picture as to why; it’s the least he deserves.
Farewell, Diego Armando Maradona. Thank you for lighting up my childhood, for your courage, your daring and the sheer grace and beauty of your play. You made me love football all the more, made my dreams a little deeper and my soul a little less earthbound. |  | | |
| RIP Maradona on 20:04 - Nov 25 with 1644 views | quickpassrotter |
| RIP Maradona on 16:48 - Nov 25 by Antti_Heinola |
Guess he punched the bucket.
Probably the greatest player that ever lived. A true genius. I got over the handball years ago. I reckon about 95% of all footballers have done soemthing like that in their careers, and all the 'cheat' stuff has been well OTT over the years. Yes, he did drugs, but jesus christ, I'd like to see anyone live under the pressure he lived under in those days.
RIP Diego. |
Echo that Antti.
Certainly the greatest player I have ever seen. Lived a controversial and troubled life ... but on the field of play, absolutely the best. Never ever played in an outstanding club or international side - yet always dragged his teams through, and carried all on his shoulders to greatness. Some amazing passages of individual brilliance yet always the consummate team player. Punishment he took on the field was incredible, and with little protection from referees in those days. Maradona helped capture and shape all that was good in the Beautiful Game. | | | |
| RIP Maradona on 20:05 - Nov 25 with 1639 views | BlackCrowe |
Maradona or Messi?
Maradona everytime. Both probably of similar talent, whereas Maradona was a rogue with a heap of personality , where Messi just seems a bit a dull, albeit one of the greatest.
I like my legends for me need to come with charisma and maybe a demon or two as well as genius - Best, Ali, Hunt, Rossi (Valentino), Botham, Bolt, etc. Maradona certainly is one these. |  |
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