Beaten as a boss and a player... he was astounding, quicker with the ball than without it
GEORGE BURLEY came face to face to Diego Maradona when he scored his first goal for Argentina.
He was head to head with him when he managed his country for the first time.
Both occasions were at Hampden Park. Both were unforgettable for Burley.
But when he digested the shock news of Diego’s death last night, the ex-Scotland boss and full-back wasn’t thinking of the encounters at the National Stadium.
Burley was only thinking about how football had lost one of its greatest ever.
It was baked with summer sunshine on a Glasgow day in June 1979 when he was the young starlet on the pitch.
It was dark and cold on the night he was in the dugout in November 2008.
But for Burley, Maradona was a player for all seasons. All years. All eras.
He said: “It’s very sad. I had seen on the news he had been in hospital, so very sad.
“People often ask me who was the best player I came up against in my career. I would say Maradona and I would say that was by head and shoulders above the rest.
“I had two occasions of coming up against him at Hampden. Once as the Scotland manager but I also played against him 1979.
“I was fortunate enough not just to play at international level but with Ipswich too – we would be playing in European competition just about every season. During those times, you’d come up against players such as Johan Cruyff and others of that ilk but Maradona would be the best of the lot.”
Burley got a taste of it early in Maradona’s career. The playmaker first appeared on British shores as an 18-year-old and there were 62,000 people inside the stadium to witness it.
Burley reckons there were a few of the Scotland players that day who were mere spectators too as he ran riot and bagged the clinching goal in a 3-1 win for his country.
He said: “Back then, he was just a teenager. At that time I don’t think he’d played that many full internationals because he was still so young.
“But it didn’t matter. Everyone was amazed that this youngster had this talent, speed and strength.
“He ran rings around us. I wasn’t just up against him as a defender. It felt as though everyone in the team was up against him at some point as he was absolutely everywhere.
“What astounded me when I played him is that he was quicker with the ball at his feet than he was just running without it.
“It was as if the ball was tied to his feet.”
The duo were rival bosses when Argentina won 1-0 in 2008 and Burley added: “There wasn’t so much interaction.
“We shook hands but we both had jobs to do.”