Diego Maradona: the Dubai Years podcast - The Pope, Fidel Castro, second-division Thierry Henry, and El Diego

In the fifth and final episode of our podcast series looking at Diego Maradona's time in the Middle East, hosts John McAuley and Paul Radley try and piece together the contrasting facets of his personality.

We hear stories from some of the people who were closest to him during his time in Dubai, where he spent seven of the final 10 years of his life.

Like the time he gave a little bit of advice to the Pope. And how he thought the likes of Thierry Henry and Alessandro del Piero were second-rate fill-ins for him.

And how his time spent with Fidel Castro in Cuba helped inform his view of the Palestinian cause.

Even though Maradona could be extremely temperamental, everyone who got to know the Argentine considered themselves incredibly fortunate to spend time with a true one-off.

• Listen to Part 1: Football's greatest name lands at Al Wasl
• Listen to Part 2: The one-man hurricanes makes his presence known
• Listen to Part 3: Rival, teammate, and five-a-side firebrand
• Listen to Part 4: Managing the burden of expectation