1979 The birth of a football idol
I was on same pitch as Diego but he was on another planet ... the ball was stuck to his feet
DIEGO MARADONA was on the same Hampden pitch as Scotland 41 years ago but Paul Hegarty reckons the Argentina legend was on another planet.
The football world is mourning the loss of one of the greats.
Maradona gone at 60. A life lived in the fast lane and a heck of a legacy in his wake, like a string of defenders.
The little genius from Buenos Aires enjoyed a stellar career but it arguably took lift-off on a sunny summer’s day in Scotland.
Maradona hadn’t been out of South America when he arrived with the Argentina squad, who were already a fierce proposition with the World Cup in their trophy cabinet thanks to the likes of Mario Kempes and Ossie Ardiles.
There was some hype around this kid though. Just 18, the drums were beating about a special talent ready to explode on the international scene. It just happened to go off at Hampden.
Hegarty said: “I’ve always said I was on the same pitch at Diego Maradona but he was on another planet.”
Dundee United legend Hegarty found out the hard way just how good Maradona was. He was left stunned as the youngster spun him to lay on the opening goal.
He had to watch European Cup winner Alan Hansen skinned as El Diego hit a post and then opened his Argentina account.
It would end up 3-1 to the South Americans and a star was born.
Hegarty said: “We didn’t know an awful lot about him before the game.me. He was just a youngsterngster of 18 and there was a bit off talk about this talented youngng lad in t he papepaperr s before but we had not seen anything of him.
“We knew Argentina were a good side as they’d won the World Cup the previous year, so we had plenty to concern ourselves without really thinking we would need to keep an eye on a kid.
“But you could tell right away he was something special. He was absolutely magnificent. I remember getting left in his wake. I was about 25 or 26 and had faced a fair few decent players by that stage.
“He was just a teenager but I went in to tackle him and he just bounced off me. I was thinking, ‘Hold on a minute here.’
“Maradona was so strong, even back then, but he had everything. The ball was stuck to his feet, he was quick and he could spin you in a split second.
“Even if you clattered him, he’d just shrug it off and come at you again. They won 3-1 that day but it was more than comfortable and he was at the heart of it.”
Hegarty and Co didn’t know much about Maradona before June 1979 but there was no escaping him in the decade that followed.
El Diego took football by storm, inspiring his nation to another World Cup triumph in 1986, picking up millions of admirers at club level with Barcelona and Napoli.
And there is no doubt for Hegarty which footballer is head and shoulders above the rest.
He said: “I was fortunate in my career to play against some great players with Scotland and with Dundee United in Europe – guys like George Best – but Maradona was the best. bes
“He is rightrig up there with Pele as the greagreatest ever. It’s such a shame to sesee him gone at such a young age. HeH led an eventful life and will nevnever be forgotten.”
He had a run against us that was even better than one against England, he must have gone by six or seven
JOHN WARK has a special place in his autobiography for the day in 1979 when he first came across the then unknown genius Diego Maradona.
Words do not sum up the little Argentinian’s brilliance – it’s a picture.
Wark unashamedly admits he is caught in the act of trying to scythe the teenage trickster down 1970s style. But even a flying boot to the midriff can’t connect with the magician that is Maradona.
Wark, like the rest of the footballing world, was taken aback by last night’s news the man he dubs the greatest footballer ever had passed away.
The ex-Liverpool and Ipswich hero is perhaps the only Scottish player who can claim to have shared a park with both Maradona and the equally legendary Pele.
But while he knew all about the greatness of the Brazil icon when the two shared scenes in Escape to Victory, Wark and his Scotland pals were horribly unprepared for the arrival of Maradona two years earlier.
Forget Escape to Victory, this was escape from Hampden as the playmaker announced his arrival on the big stage with a performance and goal, the first of 34 for his country.
Argentina won 3-1 but Wark admits the only thing on his mind after the game was just who was the genius in the No.10 shirt?
Reacting to the news, he said: “It’s really sad. He didn’t look a well man latterly but it still comes as a shock.
“I’m privileged to be able to say I was on the same park as him. It was scary to be honest. They had won the World Cup the year before and had Bertoni,
Passarella, Tarantini and all those guys playing.
“We’d been preoccupied wondering if Kempes would be there. But then this little boy – just 18 – appears out of nowhere. We had no warning.
“I couldn’t believe how good he was. Everyone remembers the goal he scored against England in 1986 – not the ‘Hand of God’ one, the one where he beat about five players.
“Well he had a run against us in 1979 that was even better. He must have gone by six or seven of us.
“I have a picture in my book where I’m trying to volley him above the waist. He’s managed to hurdle it! And you can see he’s actually laughing at me. It’s like he is asking, ‘Is that your best?’ I couldn’t get near him and nobody could that day.
“I’ve taken a swipe at him – you could do that in those days – and got nowhere near! He just ran at us constantly and I remember thinking ‘this little s**t is taking the p**s out of me – I need to clean him out’. But it never worked!
“Maradona was just a genius and that day at 18 he was the best player on the park. So what he went on to achieve after that didn’t surprise me.”
Wark insists nobody in history has ever bettered Maradona in his pomp.
He said: “I’ve always said Maradona was the best. For me Maradona and Pele are the greatest.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have shared a pitch with both. Pele was incredible and it was an absolute honour to be in Escape to Victory with him. But if I have to choose I’d say Maradona was even better than Pele in his prime.”