It was May 1980, when England international friendlies still brought a surge of excitement to the capital – a capacity crowd of 92,000 at the old Wembley Stadium.
On this late spring Tuesday night, England were hosting Argentina. These games were rare – only the third time the teams had met since the 1966 World Cup.
While the vast majority of fans were there to cheer on the Three Lions, there was one player of special interest.
Those standing on the terraces were craning their necks to take a look. A precocious teenager, read about on the newspaper back pages rather than seen, a phenomenon that needed to be checked out.
Diego Armando Maradona.
Just 19 years old and already the South American player of the year – and now in an Argentina team that had won the World Cup so breathtakingly on home soil two years previously.
That was the Argentina of Mario Kempes, of Osvaldo Ardiles and Daniel Passarella and Alberto Tarantini.
Some were still in the side at Wembley, but it was soon apparent this was the start of an Argentina orchestrated by Maradona.
England might have won that night, but there was enough of Maradona’s incredible talent on display to leave onlookers wide-eyed.
We had our England heroes – Kevin Keegan, Trevor Brooking, Stevie Coppell – but nothing like this curly-haired whirlwind of trickery.
It wasn’t usual for a partisan crowd to applaud an opposing player. But when that player leaves you spellbound, that’s just what transpired.
What a career was to unfold after that night.
World Cup winner at 25. A trophy lifted almost single-handedly such was the power of his performance. Back in his homeland he was worshipped. so much so that a group of fans created the Church of Maradona in devotion.
Honours with Boca Juniors in South America, with Barcelona in Spain and Napoli in Italy.
Controversy by the bucket load. Not just breaking the hearts of England fans with his ‘hand of God’ goal, but the off-field misdemeanours, the self-administered excesses that have taken such a heavy toll on his health.
From winning the World Cup in 1986, to being sent home after failing a drugs test eight years later. The tears and the tantrums. The genius.
Since retiring, the ballooning weight, the many and continuing forays into management, including in the UAE, the spotlight never far away. Rubbing shoulders with politicians and superstars. Maradona has never really stopped being the player.
Football fans often debate the greatest of all time, whether it be Pele, Johan Cruyff, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona, George Best, Lionel Messi. It is an argument that can never be resolved.
All were and are footballers of spellbinding talent.
None have had quite the impact of that May night in London 40 years ago. A night when a winning England came second to a teenage star.
And now he has gone too soon. RIP Diego Maradona.
