KUALA LUMPUR – The football world today mourns the passing of Diego Armando Maradona – widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
The 60-year-old Albiceleste superstar suffered a heart attack as he was recovering at home in Tigre after undergoing brain surgery earlier this month.
The former Argentine coach had been hospitalised days after celebrating his 60th birthday this month, after complaining of low spirits and fatigue.
Maradona inspired many people around the world to play football and one of them is the Crown Prince of Johor – Tunku Ismail Idris (TMJ). His love for football is evidently inspired by the Argentine.
TMJ believes that Maradona is an inspiration and is one of his childhood heroes.
“He put so many colours into football. One thing I love about him, which is something I have in common too, is that we call a spade a spade. Honest and straightforward. He's a man, not a hypocrite. That's why I love him.
"His character and talent are amazing. He modernised the game and everyone wanted to be like him, dribbling and controlling the ball like him. You have a lot of exciting players in many positions today because they were inspired by Diego and what he could do with the ball. He is a warrior with a strong character. I look up to him,” TMJ said.
Meanwhile, our very own football hero of the same era, Datuk So Chin Aun is in a state of shock but had many beautiful things to say about Maradona.
“He is one of the best players during that time and I will consider him the best even now. For me, nobody then and now could ever come close to Maradona.
“I played against Maradona in a friendly match at the Merdeka Stadium in 1982. He was the captain, and on our side, it was the late Mokhtar Dahari, so you can imagine what a great match we had.
“Maradona was the reason a lot of people took up football,” he told The Vibes when contacted.
In 1982, Selangor took on Boca Juniors in a friendly match at the iconic Merdeka Stadium. Selangor lost 2-1 and Maradona scored the winner.
Former Selangor coach, B. Sathianathan said that Maradona is a Saint as a footballer.
At the same time, Datuk Santokh Singh is in so much grieve about the passing of Maradona, who he considered a real hero of football.
“He was a great player and had excellent football skills,” he said.
Meanwhile, it looks like the English team of the 1986 World Cup have not moved on over their loss to Maradona’s Argentina at the quarterfinal stage. England lost 2-1, thanks to Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal, where he leapt over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and tapped in the ball into the goal.
However, it was in the same match that Maradona dribble passed six England players and scored one of the best goals in football history.
Shilton who seemed to be still sore with the incident, which took place 34 years ago did not have any remorse when he tweeted about Maradona’s passing.
He said ‘Try to cheat death, you fat little C**t #RIPDiego
Another ex-England player Gary Linekar tweeted ‘After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully, he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.
It is sad to see how the English have reacted to the passing of a legend but at the same time ironic to see them talk about cheat because, they too won the 1966 World Cup final against Germany through a ‘Ghost Goal’ by Geoff Hurst. – The Vibes, November 26, 2020.
