‘Maradona was for us - and will continue to be - an idol’ says Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa

Just as millions of Argentines idolise the most famous resident of that city state, the Pope, so Maradona – “El Pibe de Oro”, the Golden Kid – is also deified.

He will now be in death, just as he was in life.

A revered and well-read figure who applies rationality and logic to the overwhelming majority of enquiries from journalists, Bielsa makes an exception when talk turns to Argentina’s favourite sporting son.

There is nothing rational in discussing Maradona, who cast a glorious spell over the South American nation. You talk from the heart with love and adoration and Leeds United head coach Bielsa is no different.

His outrageous footballing talent was most spectacularly seen in that World Cup quarter-final against England in Mexico’s Azteca Stadium on June 22, 1986.

His ‘Hand of God’ strike showcased the ‘rascal’ in him as Bobby Robson famously called it. His second goal was pure majesty and required no words.

Bielsa remarked: “It was a work of art. I do not recall where I was, but the expression of a work of art is something you cannot put to too many things.

“For me, it gave me the impression like when you see an architectural work of art where you are astounded, it is something similar to that.

“For example, when you see a beautiful church you are taken aback, it is a similar feeling with the goal Diego scored.

“He could not be better. He was for us – and will continue to be – an idol.

“Given the fact he is not here with us anymore, it brings us great sadness. To lose an idol for us is something that makes us feel weak.

“Everything he did as a footballer was a beauty which cannot be matched.”

As you would expect, the news of Maradona’s passing has had a profound effect upon Bielsa, who coached the team he played in during his testimonial game, fittingly at the icon’s beloved La Bombonera stadium in 2001.

It was a day of celebration at a footballing life and career less ordinary, as Maradona lined up alongside players who strove to be like him but never could.

Juan Roman Riquelme and Pablo Aimar to name but two. But who could get close to Maradona?

On that day, there was pomp, ceremony and pride and none of the pressures that seemingly Maradona had to cope with in his playing days, particularly in the blue of Naples and blue and white stripes of Argentina.

The intense and often intolerable pressures of adulation whether it be from Neapolitans or his compatriots were chronicled in an acclaimed film of his life, screened in 2019.

Out on the pitch, away from the madding crowd, Maradona found sanctuary. Here, for 90 brief minutes, there was no pressure, according. This was Maradona’s theatre.

“Players with such individual brilliance don’t know what it is to play with pressure. The development of the creativity of a player like Diego would not have been able to develop if he felt pressure,” Bielsa remarked.

“In football, the pressure means that the pressure around you affects in some way your performance. I believe in the five best players in the world that they don’t feel this.”

To many, Maradona is number one, but as for making his own declaration, Bielsa accepts that it is something that will always be highly subjective.

He commented: “If you were to compare him with (Johan) Cruyff, Maradona, (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Pele, it is very difficult to come to a conclusion, because you have to take into account so many factors.

“It all comes down to the feeling that each player has left you at that time and left a certain feeling and you carry that with you.

“But there is something that makes me really sad, which is that players like Maradona and Messi show individual brilliance by dribbling. There are versions of players (now) who stop repeating themselves. For example, (Kylian) Mbappe is the best player in the world; his art is not comparable right now to Maradona and Messi.”

As someone who learned his craft in the slums where he was brought up in impoverished conditions in Buenos Aires, Maradona’s skills came from within.

He was self-taught, self-made, independent of thought and the antithesis of many modern-day footballers who are programmed in comparison.

Bielsa said: “Nowadays, kids don’t spend as much time with a ball and what they learn is not by themselves, but transmitted.

“For me, football as a creative spectacle every time has less beauty. As time goes on, players are worth even more, not because quality increases, but because there are fewer good players.”

There were fewer, if any better players, than Maradona.

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