Gary Lineker is a legendary footballer in his own right. A striker who played for the top English clubs of his time, as well as Barcelona, and the winner of the Golden Boot award at the 1986 World Cup, Lineker has since made a name for himself as a broadcaster.
And on Wednesday, the superstar footballer of the past and the excellent broadcaster of the present came together in a moment of poignancy to pay tribute to Diego Armando Maradona.
Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 60, plunging his native Argentina and football fans around the world into mourning.
Renowned for inspiring Argentina to win the World Cup in 1986, he was most loved at club level for his spells with Boca Juniors in his homeland and Napoli in Italy, where he won the club’s only two Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup.
Lineker, who was in the England side that famously (or infamously) lost to Maradona’s Argentina at the World Cup, spoke on BT Sport about the awe the Argentine inspired among his peers, let alone the fans. He recounted an anecdote from before an exhibition game at Wembley where he played on the same side as Maradona.
Here’s the clip:
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