Former United player saddened by death of Maradona
Bryan Robson pays tribute to late Argentine superstar
The entire footballing world is still reeling from the news that Argentina’s Diego Maradona has died.
“The Golden Kid” is regarded by many as the greatest footballer to ever play the game.
Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson had some epic encounters with the late-great superstar for both club and country.
Reds fans will remember Robson’s side faced Maradona in an epic European Cup Winners Cup tie in 1984 while the Argentine was with Barcelona.
United trailed Barca 2-0 after the first-leg that season
Robson scored twice in the return leg from Old Trafford as United won 3-0 and advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Robson recently reacted to the sad news of Maradona’s passing.
Here’s what the former United skipper had to say about the late star.
“What a player he was – undoubtedly the best of his era and up there with the likes of Pele among the greatest ever.
“He won the 1986 World Cup for Argentina more or less on his own. The football he played and the goals he scored in that tournament were unbelievable.
“He went past five players to score against England in the quarter-final and then did exactly the same against Belgium in the semi-final.
“He was a real character too. I played with him in quite a few charity games and he was a great person to be around.
“Of course, we met in 1984 as well. It was a great evening for us and people still talk about it 36 years later.
“To come back from 2-0 down against Barcelona is a great result at any time, but to do it against a team containing Maradona and Bernd Schuster made it even more special.
“It’s a sad day for football but he leaves us with some fantastic memories.”
In his career Maradona scored 34 international goals, in 91 appearances, helping Argentina to its last World Cup triumph back in 1986.
He appeared in four World Cups for Argentina as a player and one as a manager in 2010.
He was named FIFA Player of the Century in 2000.
Maradona died on November 25 of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires
He was 60. (JSL)
