'Even with all his flaws, that was part of the attraction.'
Roy Keane with a nice tale about Diego Maradona that shows how even the very best players were in awe of the man.
Since the tragic news of 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 (below).
https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1332085218606510081
Over on Sky Sports, 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."
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1333050598887985153
Lovely reminiscence from Keane.
