Maradona RIP | Vital Football

Maradona RIP

The Fear

The Fear

A Wise Man (once sat next to him)
Got to HAND it to him, Maradona was some player. One of the best to grace the hallowed turf, no doubt.

Wish the modern players were forced to watch his film and see how a magician at work, tried to stay on his feet all the time, despite woeful pitches, harder footballers and far more violent tackles.
 
Great to have seen him live @thevillaboy

The film, it took me ages to 'get' what was different. I could see the pitches were woeful, the ball was the old, harder type, the tackles on him were the old fashionned leg breakers.... then it clicked, he stayed on his feet, no diving.

I wish we could get that back. No modern player can hold a torch to these players, most are basically just cheats and ninnies!
 
Yeah fantastic footballer unreal actually but I suppose he won't get a lot of sympathy from England for me I never hated Maradonna it was the referee I hated for even thinking a four foot nothing bloke could out jump Shilton a great second goal though but I do think it was Butcher who actually scored.
 
Exactly that @gator it was the ref, the only person in the world, who didn't see the handball, or had been bribed beforehand!?
 
RIP Diego. Earned the respect of fans all over the world, in spite of the Hand of God. Later he fought his problems with courage. 60 is no age to die.
 
If you haven’t watched the film about his time with Napoli then definitely check it out. Never got to see him live as he’s not really my era but from what I have saw I can safely say he’s the best ever. Have been to Naples twice and he’s absolutely revered there, god status. Not bothered about the ‘hand of god’, if it had been an England player we’d have worshipped him forever more too. 60 is young nowadays but at least he lived his life in the fast lane.
 
Best player I've seen in my lifetime (not old enough to have watched Pele).
He was unbelievable at the 86 World cup, basically carrying that Argentinian team on his back to win the trophy and almost did the same again 4 years later, when they were bang average and well past their best.
 
LORD RON SAUNDERS said:
Sorry he's died, sad when anyone dies, but I'll never forgive him for cheating my England out of the world cup. That said, RIP you cheating Argie.
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Yeah if you are of a certain age and watched that game it certainly cost us that game because the second goal came about because we were still at sixes or sevens because it wasn't disallowed and when Linekar pulled one back we were all over them and as you say it could very well of cost us the World Cup.So it's understandable the vitriol that followed I just think the ref should have got the full bollocks and yeah @The Fear there was talk about bribery afterwards.
 
Never saw him in the flesh but undoubtedly one of the great players of all time. Still obviously pissed off about the handball but I've always blamed Shilton more, how the hell did he get out jumped by a midget?

He played in an era where he had virtually no protection. I saw a 2 videos of his time at Barcelona recently, one was him getting his ankle broken by a Bilbao player who gained the moniker "the butcher of Bilbao" from the challenge. The guy apparently keeps the boot that broke Maradonas ankle in a glass display case on his fireplace. The second video was the next time Barcelona played bilbao after Maradona had returned from his broken ankle in which Maradona instigated a full on riot involving every player on both sides featuring Kung Fu kicks and wild punches everywhere.

These days the worst Messi would have to deal with is the odd mistimed lunge which would be immediately punished by a straight red. Any talk of Messi or Ronaldo being talked up as the greatest ever doesn't wash with me as the game has basically been reshaped to allow them free reign.
 
For me he's the greatest of all time, no one has dragged teams to success like him, Argentina had a decent side in 86 but he won the world cup for them, I don't think there has ever been a better player witnessed than Maradona in 86. He also dragged Napoli to great success in the toughest league in the world at the time. He was a genius.
 
Yes, I agree he was a special talent with the ball at his feet.

Though he will also be remembered for guiding the ball into the England net with his hand and then running off like a massive cheat proclaiming and celebrating to the world he scored legally.

As you can guess I personally haven't forgiven him for that.

 
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How Shilton was beaten by someone who is 5ft 5 like that is beyond me.

Got to love Bryon Butler's commentary here:

 
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Apart from the completely forgettable 1990 World Cup final, my only other real memory of watching him play was at USA 94 when he scored against Greece and celebrated like a mad man, and everyone saying he was off his head on coke.

To be honest I'm surprised he even made it to 60.
 
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