Maradona Quotes

• Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been.

  Lionel

  Years, Want, Ifs

  51 Copy quote

• I am Maradona, who makes goals, who makes mistakes. I can take it all, I have shoulders big enough to fight with everybody.

  Diego Maradona

  Mistake, Fighting, Goal

  13 Copy quote

• The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona.

  Diego Maradona

  Motivational, Soccer, Hands

  53 Copy quote

• I have cried twice in my life watching a football player; the first one was Maradona and the second was Ryan Giggs.

  Alessandro Del Piero

  Football, Player, Giggs

  22 Copy quote

• What differences were there between Maradona and Platini?

  Michel Patini

  Differences, Platini

  7 Copy quote

• Every time he plays, Leo Messi reminds me more of Maradona, both left-footed and short, Messi is the best player in the world, along with Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo. For us it is not a surprise. Since he began to come and train with us and we knew we would go down this path. Someday I will explain that I was at the birth of one of the footballing greats: Leo Messi.

  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

  Cristiano Ronaldo, Player, Messi

  14 Copy quote

• I've been around some very famous people, but no one has the effect Maradona has; people tremble in his presence.

  Emir Kusturica

  Inspiration, Humor, People

  3 Copy quote

• I see Maradona every time he grabs the ball and accelerates.

  Pep Guardiola

  Balls, Accelerate

  28 Copy quote

• I have played against (Michel) Platini, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.

  John Terry

  Player, Years, Names

  31 Copy quote

• The myth about me as a footballer has grown: I am now the lost Maradona of Norway.

  Jo Nesbo

  Norway, Lost, Myth

  " Anders Breivik massacre will change crime writing, says author" by Charlotte Higgins, www.theguardian.com. August 24, 2011.

  3 Copy quote

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• What Zidane can do with a football, Maradona could do with an orange.

  Michel Patini

  Football, Zidane, Orange

  6 Copy quote

• Many years ago when I first started my career Maradona told me "to enjoy and play as you know", and that's stayed with me ever since and is the best advice I've been given.

  Lionel Messi

  Years, Play, Careers

  SoccerBible Interview, www.soccerbible.com. March 20, 2014.

  29 Copy quote

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• He has been named as the heir apparent of the great Argentine hero, Diego Maradona, by journalists, players, and Maradona himself, alike. I'd personally put him in a drawer of my bedside table.

  Franz Beckenbauer

  Hero, Player, Tables

  15 Copy quote

• Virtue is something you have to get good at, like playing the trombone or tolerating bores at parties. Being a virtuous human being takes practice; and those who are brilliant at being human (what Christians call the saints) are the virtuosi of the moral sphere - the Pavarottis and Maradonas of virtue.

  Terry Eagleton

  Christian, Party, Practice

  "Ideas for modern living: virtue" by Terry Eagleton, www.theguardian.com. September 11, 2010.

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• ...the last player I truly idolize... No other footballer is more worthy of the number 10 shirt than him. 
  (on Maradona)

  Hristo Stoichkov

  Player, Numbers, Number 10

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• I was a big fan of Maradona growing up and of the current crop Ronaldo is good but Messi is the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t dish out praise lightly but Messi deserves it. I look for weaknesses in his game and I can’t find them.

  Roy Keane

  Growing Up, Games, Weakness

  "10 quotes from football stars past and present that further define the greatness of Lionel Messi" by Alex Richards, www.mirror.co.uk. April 24, 2017.

  18 Copy quote

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• Messi is the best player ever. And this is said by someone who has seen Maradona and Pele play.

  Adriano Galliani

  Player, Messi, Said

  4 Copy quote

• It's not that difficult to play well and win titles in a team like Barcelona, but it's in the national side where you see a player's true class. That was the case with figures like Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane. With Spain, Iniesta has shown that he is among the best players of all time and that's why I rate him higher than Messi or Ronaldo. Even though the latter two have incredible scoring records for their clubs, they still haven't won anything with Argentina or Portugal respectively.

  Boris Becker

  Team, Winning, Player

  14 Copy quote

• He is an exceptional talent. I still think Diego Maradona is the best player I have ever seen but Messi is closing in fast. He's a wonderful sight in full flight and we are lucky to have him around.

  Ander Herrera

  Player, Thinking, Sight

  6 Copy quote

• As a boy, I wanted to be the Peruvian Diego Maradona. Sadly, Peru hasnt made the World Cup since 1982, so I guess I did well to choose something different.

  Daniel Alarcon

  Boys, Cups, Different

  "Daniel Alarcón" by Jennifer L. Knox, www.newyorker.com. June 14 & 21, 2010.

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• Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best.

  Xavi

  Team, Player, Past

  16 Copy quote

• He is the best. The best in the world, yes. Probably the best ever. I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele. But Cristiano is amazing. This man is the best... Cristiano is a goals machine. He is an incredible player. He is like Zidane, there will never be another Ronaldo.

  Jose Mourinho

  Couple, Player, Men

  5 Copy quote

• Messi has all the conditions to be the best, but first he has to beat Maradona, Romario and then eventually Pele.

  Michel Patini

  Messi, Firsts, Being The Best

  3 Copy quote

• For such a small man Maradona gets great elevation on his balls

  David Pleat

  Men, Balls, Small Man

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• I find it embarrassing when people compare me to Maradona. How can they? There is only one Maradona. People who say this just have no idea, they don't know what they are talking about. Diego was a complete one-off who will never have an equal on the football pitch. No-one, I repeat no-one, could have transformed teams like he did. Maradona was the world's greatest-ever player while I'm just an apprentice.

  Sergio Aguero

  Football, Team, Player

  10 Copy quote