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Diego Maradona once named Manchester United legend as his ‘favourite English player’

Srinivas Sadhanand

Tue 18 March 2025 19:45, UK

Diego Maradona was one of the greatest players the game had ever seen.

Maradona dominated the beautiful game in a way that has rarely ever been seen, toying🐼 with his opponents with his immaculate dribbling, impeccable technique and searing pace.

The two-time World Cup winner was a league over the reꦡst during his playing days and the way he ran the show was reminiscent of his Argentine successor in Lione💞l Messi.

Diego Maradona was devastating tꦦ♔o play against, an absolute joy to watch and the embodiment of a once-in-a-lifetime footballer.

Maradona played with several stalwarts during his playing career who have go🌠ne down as legends of the game, with names like Socrates, Gary Lineker, Bryan Robson and Rudi Voller to name a few.

Diego Maradona named Bryan Robson as his ‘favourite English player’

Gary Lineker and Bryan Robson witnessed the genius of Diego Maradona first-h൩and, as he dismantled England in the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup, which is remembered for the great man’s famous ‘Hand of God’ goal.

During the contest, Maradona scored a brace, the 🧔first of which was a tremendous solo strike which is universally rememb🥀ered as one of the best goals in the history of the game.

Diego Maradona went on hold a deep admiration for former Manchester United midfielder Bryan Robson, naming him as his favourite English player of all time durinജg an interview with in 2019☂.

“I played at Old Trafford [in the 1983/84 Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final]. Wh🌺at noise, like La Bombonera. I u𒁃se that game as an example to my players.”

“Barcelona won the home game 2-0 and we went to Manchester confident. Too confident, as we lost 3-0 and went out. I told my players about that when we were 3-1 up after beating Mineros last week. I tol💙d them not to let what happened to me happen to the♔m and we won 2-0 in the second game on Saturday.”

“And I remember that game in Manchester. Bryan Robson, he was my favourite English player of that generation played that night. But I should have won a penalty in that game! Bryan Robson and 𝄹Graeme Souness were the best Brit🌠ish midfielders. Great players.”

What Bryan Robson said about Diego Maradona

Bryan Robson paid a heartfelt tribute to Diego Mar🎀adona when he passed away in 2020, reflecting on his incredible World Cup campaign in 1986 and their unforgettable battle in 1984.

Robson said via : “What a player he was, undoubtedly the best of his era and up there with the likes of Pele among the greatest ever. He won the 🌟1986 World Cup for Argentina more or less on his own. The football he played and the goals he scored in that tournament were unbelievable.

“He went past five players to score against England in the quarter-final and then did exactly the same against Belgium in the semi-final. He was a real character too. I played with h🎐im in quite a few charity games and he was a great person to be around.”

“Of course, we met in 1984 as well. It was a great evening for us and people still talk about it 36 years later. To come back from 2-0 down against Barcelona is a gr🐟eat result at any time, but to do it against a team containing Maradona and Bernd Schuster made it even more special. It’s a sad day for football but he leaves us with some fantastic memories.”

Football fans from across the world would have been delighted to see how much two titans of the game in Diego Maradonaﷺ and Bryan Robson hold each other i🗹n high esteem throughout their respective careers.