‘Even with all his flaws, that was part of the attraction’
Since the tragic news of Diego Maradona’s passing, almost everyone who ever had the good fortune to cross his path has shared an anecdote about the footballing icon. Gary Lineker gave a heartwarming tribute to the Argentine legend while doing Champions League coverage on BT Sport and Joe Cole recalled the time El Diego rocked up at Cobham to watch Chelsea train on this week’s episode of All To Play For, which you can watch below.
"My wife always says I smiled more meeting Maradona than I did on our wedding day."
After the tragic passing of Diego Maradona, Joe Cole tells @BigTomD of the day he met El Diego at Chelsea training and immediately turned into a fanboy.
w/ @Coral pic.twitter.com/9rCkS0rD64
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 26, 2020
And on Sunday, Roy Keane told a heartwarming story about watching the great man train in Seville.
I know the words ‘Keane’ and ‘heartwarming’ are not usually seen together but that is the power of Maradona – he can even bring a smile out of Roy.
Keane recalled using Sevilla’s training facilities while playing for the Republic of Ireland in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. While training there, several members of the Ireland squad hung about to watch Maradona train.
“We just watched him train one afternoon. I remember Jack Charlton going, ‘Come on, get on the bus!'” Keane said.
“We said, ‘No, no. We’re watching Maradona.’
“He was doing free kicks. Brilliant, brilliant player. World class. Even with all his flaws, that was part of the attraction as well for me, I thought.
“Absolute genius, great memories watching him.”
Roy Keane has recalled a brilliant story of his teammates watching Maradona in training, as Jack Charlton tried to get them back on the bus… 😂 pic.twitter.com/TtEQocifDQ
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 29, 2020
