To put things into perspective. I am an Everton fan and Steven Gerard is and was revered and worshiped by Liverpool fans during the height of his career after winning the champions league against AC Milan and the FA Cup final against West Ham, and even as an Everton fan i had to begrudgingly admit that Gerard was the bast player in the league at that time. But i said to an old Liverpool fan at the time, who is the greatest Liverpool player of all time, surely it must be Steven Gerard. But he told me Kenny Dalgleish was Liverpools greatest ever player. But in 1986 when Kenny was in his prime, Kenny did not win the player of the league award. Everton won the league and Peter Reid won the player of the league award which should tell you what a great player he was during that time. Liverpool through the period of the 70s to 80s dominated European and domestic competitions but for a 3 year period Everton and Liverpool were to 2 best teams in the world. Gary liniker scored 40 goals for everton in all competitions that year before heading to Barcelona. That is the equivalent of having Ronaldo up front before he went to Madrid and steven Gerard in midfield and some of the best players in England and Europe playing for England at that time, yet Maradona ran past them like they wernt there and scored the greatest goal in world cup history. In that context, that is why Maradona is so highly respected.
To put things into perspective. I am an Everton fan and Steven Gerard is and was revered and worshiped by Liverpool fans during the height of his career after winning the champions league against AC Milan and the FA Cup final against West Ham, and even as an Everton fan i had to begrudgingly admit that Gerard was the bast player in the league at that time. But i said to an old Liverpool fan at the time, who is the greatest Liverpool player of all time, surely it must be Steven Gerard. But he told me Kenny Dalgleish was Liverpools greatest ever player. But in 1986 when Kenny was in his prime, Kenny did not win the player of the league award. Everton won the league and Peter Reid won the player of the league award which should tell you what a great player he was during that time. Liverpool through the period of the 70s to 80s dominated European and domestic competitions but for a 3 year period Everton and Liverpool were to 2 best teams in the world. Gary liniker scored 40 goals for everton in all competitions that year before heading to Barcelona. That is the equivalent of having Ronaldo up front before he went to Madrid and steven Gerard in midfield and some of the best players in England and Europe playing for England at that time, yet Maradona ran past them like they wernt there and scored the greatest goal in world cup history. In that context, that is why Maradona is so highly respected.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! You’ve perfectly contextualized the level of opposition Maradona faced during his iconic goal.