[ad_1]
As the soccer world mourns the passing of an all-time great player in Diego Maradona, local legend Fandi Ahmad recalled the moment he scored against the Argentine hero’s Boca Juniors team as a teenager.
The 1986 World Cup winning captain died on Wednesday after a heart attack at his home in Buenos Aires. He was 60 years old.
Fandi, 58, said Maradona was an inspiration to his generation, calling him one of the two greatest players of all time, alongside Pelé.
Fandi, considered the best player in Singapore, shared the playing field with the soccer icon in 1982, when he headed for a Selangor team in a 2-1 loss to Boca in Kuala Lumpur.
He was only 19 years old and in national service at the time and after the match Boca head coach Vladislao Cap said he was interested in signing the Singaporean, whom he described as “an excellent forward who can fit into any team”.
But there was no one who eclipsed Maradona that day, or most days, in fact.
Just a few months before his world record transfer to Barcelona, he set up Boca’s opener before scoring the winning goal in 59 minutes.
Fandi told The New Paper: “I will always remember the goal that I scored against Boca Juniors because I was young … and I was playing against the best player on earth at the time, after Pelé. It is a great honor for me.”
He recalled Maradona’s hypnotic dribble and added that the Argentine executed a “rabona” during the match.
Fandi said: “When he’s on the ball and running, it’s very difficult. It took two or three players to tackle him because he had a low center of gravity, a wide body, big strong thighs and he was very fast. … He was very clever and smart. “
Fandi also witnessed the pinnacle of Maradona’s career at the 1986 World Cup live in Mexico, adding: “What an incredible World Cup he had, fantastic. I watched most of Argentina’s matches, it was phenomenal.”
Singaporean soccer fans may also have Maradona partially to thank for helping influence one of the nation’s most exciting talents, V. Sundram Moorthy.
Nicknamed “the Dazzler” for his style and dribbling skills, Sundram is possibly the closest we’ve come to producing a player in the Argentine mold.
The 55-year-old, who called Maradona his soccer idol and the greatest player of all time, said his style of play was influenced by trying to copy the former Napoli star.
Sundram said: “We used to watch him and try to practice some of his skills … his dribbling skills and the way he passes defenders so easily.”
Dribbling might be Maradona’s calling card, but it’s his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup that remains most ingrained in Sundram’s mind.
He explained: “He has scored a lot of great goals by dribbling, England’s too, but the one that always remains in my head … is the Hand of God.
“Because it’s a quick thought and he puts his hand near his head where the referee can’t see it,” Sundram added, laughing.
[ad_2]
