This is a weird one. In a lot of ways, fans from my generation are not qualified to talk about Diego Maradona. He was a comet that lit up the sky and left well before people my age knew what a sky is. Our only interaction with his genius has been through the borrowed telescope of heavily edited YouTube reels and stories from hyperventilating oldies.
The problem with essays and YouTube videos is that you partly know what lies ahead. It is there in the title and subtext: Diego Maradona Genius, Crazy Dribbles. Watching with the secure knowledge of an extraordinary finale does not evoke quite the same awe. My generation never got to see the volatile unpredictability of Maradona at its peak.
But we have seen good footballers and we have seen words like great and legend get thrown around like cards in a lost poker game. Indulging in GOAT debates is our favourite post-lunch pass time. So maybe we are qualified to talk about perceived greatness.
If you were to move away from Twitter for ten minutes and define the outer layers of greatness, the realm where someone’s radiance illuminates the sport itself, you would arrive at a checklist that Diego Maradona ticked many times over.