El Diego

"Cosmic kite, what planet are you from?"

My tribute to the greatest player EVER!

One of my earliest footballing memories is watching the iconic first match of Italia 90. I’d never seen anything like it before! All the colours and pageantry. The state of the art on screen graphics. That theme song. All those exotic and flamboyant players. The shirts they wore. Their boots. Even the balls they were playing with- It all seemed so fresh and exciting!

Yet, amongst all this. Amongst all the action, the goals, the dancing the fouls and the seemingly endless red cards, one man stood out above all the others. That man was Diego Armando Maradona.

The way he moved, his touches and control, his passion, his skills, grace and creativity all combined to make him seem like some kind of footballing magician aware of what was going to happen long before anyone else.

Throughout his career he bought joy to millions, along with his fair share of despair for others too, and, while he may have polarised opinions greatly, the one thing that was certain was the fact that, when Diego played, he made magic happen…

Rest in peace