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Topics: Diego Maradona, Manchester United, England, Argentina
Luke Davies
Topics: Diego Maradona, Manchester United, England, Argentina
Diego Maradona once named a Manchester United legend as his ‘favourite’ English player.
Maradona divides the opinions of English football supporters due to his ‘hand of god’ goal during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
With the scores tied at 0-0 between Argentina and England, Maradona took matters into his own hands (literally) when he used his hand to score his side’s first goal.
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The match officials were deceived by Maradona and the strike stood.
Just four minutes later, he scored again - this time slaloming past several England players before finishing past Peter Shilton in the Three Lions' goal. His second goal was later dubbed as the ‘Goal of the Century’.
And before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo came along, Maradona was widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time (GOAT).
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But who was his 'favourite' English player?
Well, back in 2019, FourFourTwo caught up with the great Argentinian while he was managing Mexican second-tier side Dorados de Sinaloa.
"I played at Old Trafford [in the 1983/84 Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final]," said Maradona. "What noise, like La Bombonera. I use that game as an example to my players.
“Barcelona won the home game 2-0 and we went to Manchester confident.
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"Too confident, as we lost 3-0 and went out. I told my players about that when we were 3-1 up after beating Mineros last week. I told them not to let what happened to me happen to them, and we won 2-0 in the second game on Saturday.
“And I remember that game in Manchester. Bryan Robson – he was my favourite English player of that generation – played that night.
"But I should have won a penalty in that game! Bryan Robson and Graeme Souness were the best British midfielders. Great players.”
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Robson, 68, scored twice in the match that Maradona spoke about.
The former West Brom manager is widely considered to be one of United’s greatest players to this day, having played 461 times for the club – becoming the Red Devils' longest serving captain. He won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a European Cup Winners' Cup during his 13-year stay at the club before retiring in 1997.