Diego Armando Maradona passes away...

[MoLiEG]

https://www.clarin.com/deportes/mur...frio-paro-respiratorio-grave_0_hCcpbyiC-.html

And he is gone, my friends. El Pibe de Oro is gone...

RIP

 

[ZGBox]

In Naples (where I was born), he was one of the greates heroes, and the city is shocked about the news.
R.I.P.

 

[Robin]

I saw the 2019 Diego Maradona docu-film recently, well worth watching for those who want to see the ups and downs of a footballing legend.

He literally was a one off, forever frozen in some time in the 80's, RIP.

 

[Dennisch]

He should have disappeared in the early 90's. Completely ruined his image when he quit playing football.

 

[girabyt3]

Seeing the news over here right now... It sucks to see him gone, honestly, since he was trying to recover his life after all the drugs and getting back to football as a coach... Aguante Maradona!! ♥

 

[UKMikey]

I posted this on Facebook earlier and didn't notice the punchline until afterwards.



I can't say the handball bothered me so much at the time. A lot of people on both sides seemed to be turning that match into a rerun of the Falklands conflict and there seemed to be a lot of bad blood. At any rate that other goal he scored in the match was undeniably skilful.

 

[Biggles]

Also passed away is the great French rugby player Christoph Dominici.



What he had in common with Maradona was that they were both of diminutive stature. It's such a contrast to North American sports where size is almost always an essential prerequisite for success. In his prime, the 5'5" Maradona was unquestionably the most dominant player in the world, controlling matches with his speed, skill & intelligence. Kind of sad that he was such a schmuck off the field.

 

[Biggles]

While we're at it ... I might add the late Nobby Stiles to the list of diminutive warriors who just passed away. I'm guessing I might be the only one on GTPlanet to have watched Nobby & the boys winning the World Cup in 1966. Yeah - you read that right England actually won a World Cup!

 

[girabyt3]

From Paulo Coelho

 

[TenEightyOne]

A lot of people on both sides seemed to be thing that match into a rerun of the Falklands conflict and there seemed to be a lot of bad blood.

It was Maradona who made those statements and fomented that tension.

 

[UKMikey]

It was Maradona who made those statements and fomented that tension.

I don't remember it being all Maradona. He said the hype leading up to the match made it seem like it would be a repeat of the war. It's not like our newspapers didn't play into this feeling at the time either as I recall.

It was still fresh in everybody's minds at the time. The cheating goal wouldn't have stood with today's video technology and the sad thing is that he was skilful enough not to have to cheat.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I don't remember it being all Maradona. He said the hype leading up to the match made it seem like it would be a repeat of the war.

I agree it wasn't all Maradona - the English are well known for being unable to forget wars. However, Maradona's own comments for years afterwards were equally inflammatory.

It was like beating a country, not a football team. Although we said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas War, we knew that a lot of Argentine kids had died there, that they had mowed us down like little birds. This was our revenge, it was ... recovering a part of the Malvinas. We all said beforehand that we shouldn't mix the two things but that was a lie. A lie! We didn't think of anything except that, like hell it was going to be just another game!

He was a stupendously talented athlete, an incredible kicker of the ball-thing, there's no doubt about that. But, a little like Schumacher or Senna, his greatness is tainted by the grossly unsporting side of his personality. In my opinion.

 

[UKMikey]

I'm not sure whether describing what he and his team felt about mixing sport with politics was as deliberately designed to inflame as his admission of handball was, but if the goal had been disallowed and the result was 1-1, it would have gone to a penalty shootout and the England team was notoriously bad at those at the time.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I'm not sure whether describing what he and his team felt about mixing sport with politics was as deliberately designed to inflame as his admission of handball was

That would be on par with Trump admitting he lost the election - it's a fact that everybody else knew and which only he refused to acknowledge.

if the goal had been disallowed and the result was 1-1, it would have gone to a penalty shootout and the England team was notoriously bad at those at the time.

Agreed, but that's academic and would have returned a victory within the rules*. Deliberately punching the swoll into a goal-bag is specifically against the idea of footballism and so the game was won by the actions of a blatant cheat.

*Including the unwritten one where England don't practice penalties

 

[Biggles]

Well, to be fair, I'm not sure he planned to hit the ball into the net with his hand. It was up to the officials to spot it. I wonder how many other players in that situation would have admitted to it after the goal had been called? It seems pretty obvious in this still from the match:

 

[UKMikey]

That would be on par with Trump admitting he lost the election - it's a fact that everybody else knew and which only he refused to acknowledge.



Agreed, but that's academic and would have returned a victory within the rules*. Deliberately punching the swoll into a goal-bag is specifically against the idea of footballism and so the game was won by the actions of a blatant cheat.

*Including the unwritten one where England don't practice penalties

I think you're severely misreading my post if you think I was trying to defend his cheating. I just don't get why recalling that he and his teammates were fired up against the British was a deliberately inflammatory statement. It's another fact that everybody knew.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I think you're severely misreading my post if you think I was trying to defend his cheating.

I didn't think that at all!