The night Diego made peace with his England foes... while wearing a Three Lions rosette!
REVEALED BY HIS FORMER AGENT JON SMITH
DIEGO MARADONA did make his peace with the England players he knocked out of the 1986 World Cup.
And super agent Jon Smith has the picture to prove it.
Gary Lineker is on there. So too is Smith and his wife Janine, standing next to a smiling Maradona resplendent with an unmistakable red, white and blue England rosette that was pinned to his chest as he watched Bobby Robson’s side at Wembley earlier that evening.
It was taken in the autumn of 1986 – and Maradona was literally on top of the world having inspired Argentina to glory in Mexico just months earlier.
No Englishman got closer to the man who was simply known in his homeland as ‘ The 10’ than Smith, who worked with Maradona during the peak years of his career.
Smith compares the Argentine’s death this week, at the age of 60, to the passing of Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
And he believes that history will treat Maradona with the kindness he deserves and not the rancour that saw former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton take the opportunity to once again brand his Aztec Stadium nemesis a cheat.
“There will be some England fans who will never forgive Diego for the Hand of God,” said Smith, referring to the controversial goal that gave Argentina the lead in their quarter-final clash with Eng England in Mexico
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“But I think there will be millions m more foo football lovers all aro around the world w who will re remember him as th the greatest player th the game has ever se seen.
“In fact, Diego was more than that. He tr transcended the game of football. He was only 5ft 5in but b the aura of the man was incredible. i dibl
“When my brother, Phil, called me to give me the news that Diego was dead I felt like I did when we lost Elvis and John Lennon. Every genius has their demons. Maybe that’s the price they have to pay for the gift they’re blessed with – and with Diego it was drugs.
“But I think history will treat him kindly because of the enormous pleasure he gave to anyone who truly loves football.”
Smith was introduced to Maradona by Tottenham’s former Argentina star Ossie Ardiles just a few weeks after he had lifted the World Cup. He was already looking after the commercial interests of the England squad and was considered the No.1 agent in the game after setting up the First Artist company with his brother.
Smith quickly became aware that Maradona felt some remorse for punching the ball past Shilton for Argentina’s first goal before sealing the win with an individual strike that has been voted the best of all-time. Smith said: “Diego loved visiting England – and while he enjoyed a night or two in Tramp nightclub he was always attracted to the countryside.
“He came over to London just a few months after the World Cup and I took him to Wembley to watch England.
“After the game he went into the dressing room and shook the hand of every England player.
“He knew what he had done was wrong and he wanted to offer the hand of friendship. It was his way of saying sorry. “I remember taking him to an Italian restaurant in north London. Gary Lineker was with us that night. He had accepted Diego’s handshake as a gesture of friendship, so it made me sad this week to see that some others weren’t able to do the same.”
called me to tell me the news that Diego was dead I felt like I did when we lost Elvis and Lennon