From http://www.helium.com/tm/341433/discussing...test-footballer

"Diego Maradona has been an inspiration to so many fans of football, myself included. The man embodies everything that is passion about the game; the flair, the blood, sweat and tears, the drive and the willingness to succeed. He is nothing short of a legend. More than a man, he is an institution, and I hope that he may continue to serve as an inspiration to many. The hand of god indeed turned out to be an accurate description."

I would not want to get into a debate of who is the greatest player a...just wanna say that i think he deserves mentioning based on the fact that he alone and singlehandedly (ok, perhaps with evita peron maybe) held his country together during one of their toughest periods in the late 70's thru the 80's. War, poverty and internal politics have torn the country in to a mess....there was nothing for people to look up to....nothing except DIEGO...everytime he plays, and wins, it brings joy and hope to people of his nation. And he himself knows the expectations on him. He KNOWS the pressure, and heaps them all on his small little shoulders and never fails to deliver. Eventually it cracked (he is human after all) and problems seaped in.... but even then, he had survived it and has overcome most of his problems and is at least trying to stay away and lead a new life. For this, he has my respect.

He is also a great leader on the pitch. Again, i admire him for his willingness to singlehandedly take on responsibilities on his team when others had given up hope. Some people call it selfish gam play, i call it courage to take on the challenge. How many times we have seen then when his Argentina, Boca, Napoli teams were on the brink of defeat or were in need of inspiratino, they would send the ball to only one person. And 9 out of 10 times he would be able to create that little bit of magic to lift his team to make them believe the impossible!

He had the same effect on Naples as well. Prior to his arrival, no club from the poorer southern Italy had won the Serie A title. After his arrival, he won not only 1 but 2 for the club, as well as the UEFA cup. This is similar again to his impact on Argentina, wehre he gave people of Naples a sense of pride and show the Northern rich counterpart that they are also proud of their football....

You know one is an inspiration when people created a religion in your name.

For me personally, he inspired me to belive there are so many tricks and wonderful things 1 can do with a football. He was the first player i saw on tv...when i was 6 watching the WC with my relatives...images of him still lives on.... i m very sure that alot of the modern freestylers get inspired by him as well.. Ronaldinho, Cantona, Zidane, C Ronaldo, Roonie... all "flair" and artistic players often cite him as the ultimate role model in making them pursue more fancy tricks to do with a foot ball. ALL of them would have seen Maradona's video clips of his training, and his juggling of various different items such as an orange, and even a golf ball! HEck there is even a clip of him juggling a mineral water bottle! There footballers would go "If he can do that, maybe we can"... this is how the freestyling art is kept alive.....in my view at least....

actually its funny no one named any African stars seeing that it is the most likely source of "rags to riches" stories given the continent's poverty. Not being racist, just pointing out a fact...

For Asian players, I admire those who have the guts to forego their godlike status in their respective countries/ leagues and venture into the tougher (obviously) leagues in Europe and South America. Some wrongly label them as money-suckers who r not loyal and seeks fame for the sake of it. However, to me i respect them wholeheartedly especially the "pioneers" who dare take the risks to pursue sporting excellence and improve themselves..

seems like replies are more towards "my favourite players" or "the best player in the game" etc type of questions...

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Added on June 18, 2008, 1:51 pmFor me, I draw inspiration from players who are still enjoying the game, even though they are playing at highly intense competitive games week in week out as a professional. Players like Maldini and Messi put forward that kind of an image. Why would Maldini still wanna play at this age? Its the passion and love of the game, and the fact that he still has the competitive edge to wanna play to his full strength. Messi is a delightful playere to watch yes, but i always admire how he stands out from other notably skillfull/ talented players like notably CR and Owen etc. He respects the game, respects the opponents, and respects himself.

These are just two names which i think most forummers can relate to. There are tonnes of good honest footballers out there i know, from the players from the first WC-winning Brrazil 1958 side, to the players from the odds-defying Asian Champion Iraq team, and i respect and admire every single one of them. They are the ones who keeps the game alive:)



This post has been edited by chcher: Jun 18 2008, 01:51 PM