ME AND We shared a room at Newell’s... I was in awe & slept with one eye open
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has spoken for the first time about his amazing days as a starry-eyed teenager sharing a room with football legend Diego Maradona.
And the Tottenham boss has revealed how the World Cup star, with god-like status around the globe, helped influence his life and career.
Having roomed with the world’s most famous player just months before the 1994 USA World Cup – when the infamous ‘Hand of God’ star was sent home in disgrace for failing a drugs test – Pochettino had a unique insight into the madness of Maradona’s world.
His spell as mentor to young Pochettino ended crazily, with a shooting and a suspended prison sentence for the troubled Argentinian star.
But the Tottenham boss insists he knows the real Maradona – and that’s why he will always be Pochettino’s football hero.
The transfer window has been an enduring irritation for the Spurs boss, with Tottenham supremo Daniel Levy controlling moves – or lack of them – for stars wanted by his manager.
His eyes light up, though, at memories of his early days with Newell’s Old Boys when he was Maradona’s room-mate on a pre-season fitness and conditioning camp at the Argentinian seaside resort of Mar del Plata.
“It’s so difficult in English to express myself and my emotion about Maradona,” said Pochettino, who faces champions Chelsea today in Tottenham’s first Premier League game at Wembley.
“I think I was one of the most happiest people in the world when I met him for the first time. Because, not only was it a dream come true, it was more than a dream.
“I will remember it always because I love football and Maradona. It was more than this – more than everything.
“As a boy, growing up, there was always a big picture of him on my wall where I slept. Every day and every night I saw him.
“Then, one day when I was 21 and with the first team at Newell’s, Maradona joined us. I met him and they made me his room-mate, so I sleep with him in the same room!
“I should say he was sleeping. Me? No. It was impossible. I slept with one eye open all night, just looking at him!
“It’s so difficult to express it. It’s an emotional feeling for me when I t h i n k a b o u t
Maradona.”
Although Maradona’s career descended into chaos, with cocaine abuse and scrapes with authority blighting his latter days in the game, Pochettino’s judgement on the iconic star is from a different perspective.
The Spurs boss said: “I love him. I love everything about him because I knew Maradona, the real