Ok so this is now ALL too good. That he is home and better is the cherry on the proverbial cake the last few days are just too awesome..I'm starting to get scared. Timor Pukki don't you fucking dare!!!
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Spurs icon Ardiles discusses Maradona, Romero and the Finalissima
EXCLUSIVE: In 1993, Ardiles, who made 311 appearances for Spurs, was the club's manager at the time and started to concoct a plan to bring the legendary Argentine to White Hart Lane.
EXCLUSIVE: 'He would have LOVED to have played for Spurs': Ossie Ardiles insists Diego Maradona would've relished Tottenham challenge... as club's legendary player discusses Son's 'JOKE' PFA snub, Cristian Romero's rise and the Finalissima
- Diego Maradona would have loved to have played for Spurs, insists Ossie Ardiles
- Spurs icon Ardiles wanted to sign Maradona during his stint as boss in the 90s
- It never came to fruition but Ardiles is sure his late close friend would've joined
- Ardiles also insists Son snub from the PFA Player of the Year voting was a 'joke'
- The 69-year-old says Argentina will win the Finalissima at Wembley tomorrow
- Click here for all the latest World Cup 2022 news and updates
PUBLISHED: 09:19 BST, 31 May 2022 | UPDATED: 13:14 BST, 31 May 2022
Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles has insisted that Diego Maradona would have 'loved' to have played for Spurs - because he thrived when presented with a 'great challenge'.
In 1993, Ardiles, who made 311 appearances and scored 25 goals for Spurs, was the club's manager at the time and started to concoct a plan to sensationally bring one of football's greatest ever players to White Hart Lane.
Ardiles was close friends with Maradona, after the pair won the 1986 World Cup together, and wanted to manage him in the Premier League but a proposed move was canned by Ardiles over Maradona's personal circumstances at the time.
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Ardiles and Maradona became close friends during their time playing for the Argentinian national team, with Ardiles inviting the legendary forward to a number of Tottenham games
But when asked if Maradona would've considered donning the white shirt in the mid-90s, Ardiles was very confident that it could've been a real possibility.
Ardiles told Sportsmail: 'Yes. As a manger [of Tottenham] there was a possibility of bringing Diego to the club, yes. But Diego, at the time, was in a very bad state himself.
'In 1992 he went to Sevilla in Spain but before he had serious problems in Italy at Napoli with so many people. At the end of the day I imagined him coming here, to England, and because of his history, I put everything into balance and I thought it would be far too much for Diego.'
Spurs went on to sign Jurgen Klinsmann instead that summer, four years after he helped guide West Germany to their third World Cup, and the rest is history.
Ardiles added: 'We were very lucky to have Jurgen Klinsmann at the time – he was a World Cup winner – so he was on the top of his game and was absolutely wonderful for us.'
While Ardiles reveals he never approached Maradona about the move, he remains very confident that the man himself would've said yes to joining Spurs and playing under him in 1993.
'I think Diego would have loved to have come and play here at Tottenham,' Ardiles says. 'Diego loved great challenges and that would've been a great challenge for him, but it never ended up happening.'
Maradona did famously pull on the Tottenham shirt seven years before that in Ardiles' Tottenham testimonial, where 30,000 fans filled out White Hart Lane to watch the Argentine play a game where he borrowed a pair of boots off Spurs icon Clive Allen.
That game at White Hart Lane was just one of six times Maradona played in Britain, which included two trips to the old Wembley. It was a rare occurrence for a South American team to get to play at Wembley in those days but British fans will now get to see Lionel Messi and Co up close and in person for tomorrow night's Finalissima under the Wembley arch.
The special fixture will see the Copa America winners, Argentina, face the European champions, Italy, which is part of a renewed memorandum of understanding between UEFA and South American confederation CONMEBOL.
Ardiles, who is helping promote the match with Premier Sports, insists the occasion should be a great experience for his compatriots and to win the Finalissima at the home of football would be the 'icing on the cake'.
Ardiles said: 'There are so many wonderful stadiums in the world and Wembley is still the home of football.
'Not as much as before because it was incredibly difficult to play at Wembley, as you only played the FA Cup final and if you played for your national team there. They were the only opportunities to play there. Now it's a lot more common.
'So because of that, it's lost a little bit of the prestige it used to have before but it's still a great venue.'
Ardiles believes there will be only one winner in north west London on Wednesday evening, given Italy will still be reeling from their failure to qualify for this winter's World Cup, while Argentina have gone from strength to strength under Lionel Scaloni.
'Every game is very tough and for Argentina to beat Brazil in Brazil [to win the Copa America] is quite an achievement. It's an incredible achievement, really. So Argentina come to the game with a better pedigree and are currently on a 31-game unbeaten streak.
'It's an amazing record and they have a very special squad. You then have to mention that Italy suffer the big defeat of not reaching the World Cup, after being in a group that was not particularly difficult, they should have qualified.
'They then even blew it in qualifying. Italy will not be in the best form and may be down psychologically, but Italy is Italy and they are at their most dangerous when they're not the favourites.
'It's going to be very interesting and a tough game.'
Ardiles himself has been absent from attending games in person in recent months following his successful heart operation back in April.
And having fully recovered from the surgery and a Covid-19 diagnosis last year, Ardiles was keen to send his thanks to the doctors and nurses that looked after him at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.
'After having the operation, I would like to thank everybody [at St Barts hospital] that made this recovery possible,' he said. 'From the moment I was diagnosed, all the doctors and everybody helped me through the operation.
'Mr Uppal, he was the surgeon, and of course all the people at St Barts hospital, the nurses and doctors from there, as well, all my family and friends, particularly to the people at Tottenham, they were very very supportive from the top to the bottom. I would like to express my big, big thank you to them all.'
It's been a positive end to the season for Ardiles and Tottenham, with the club legend thrilled by Spurs' top-four finish ahead of bitter rivals Woolwich as they smashed five past an already-relegated Norwich at Carrow Road.
However, while it ended up being a comfortable victory in Norfolk, Ardiles acknowledged that it could've been another banana skin – if history is anything to go by.
'I'm absolutely delighted because, at one time, it looked out of our hands and the final day was what makes the Premier League the best league in the world,' Ardiles said.
'There was a little bit of trepidation going to Norwich for the last game of the season because of our history. But once the second goal went in, that was it. You could see the differences in the two teams was huge and we won very very comfortably.
'For a lot of different reasons, it was such a great season really. First just to qualify for the Champions League and then there were some outstanding performances – it's very difficult to choose just one.
'Harry Kane, for example, had a very slow start – especially for him – but he finished incredibly strongly.
'I would also like the mention 'Cuti' [Cristian] Romero – he's one of the top defenders in the world without doubt.'
When pressed more on Romero, who hails from Cordoba – the same city in Argentina as Ardiles, he added: 'It's not easy to arrive in English football and acclimatise straight away. It can take quite a long time to do so.
'It looked to me as if he done so extremely quickly. He's very good with the ball, without the ball and is a very good defender. He still needs to learn a few things – he's made one or two mistakes – but he's very clever and will learn from those mistakes.
'But what is his ceiling? I wouldn't like to speculate on that. Making comparisons with other players, I'm not so sure. But I don't know who is better [than him] right now. That is debatable.
'Before he made his move to Atalanta, he already stood out for the national team. For Argentina, some rotate, some play, sometimes they don't. People like [Lionel] Messi and Romero play all the time, so it gives you an idea of how highly-rated he is.
'He's an outstanding player – I'm delighted Spurs have him.'
While Romero has been superb after overcoming injury and a rocky start under Nuno Espirito Santo, there was one Spurs player who Ardiles wanted to reserve special praise for.
'I have to mention who I think was player of the year,' Ardiles added. 'Son Heung-min was absolutely magnificent. In the PFA Player of the Year voting, he was not in the top six.
'That is a joke. He was joint top goalscorer and tied with Mohamed Salah, who was of course wonderful as well, but he [Salah] was in a team fighting to win the Premier League and Champions League. It was much easier for Salah to score goals than it was for Son.
'Spurs finished the season strongly, yes, but there were times at the start of the season when they weren't playing as well. Sometimes he and Harry Kane would not receive the support that they needed. For Son to score this many goals, along with the assists, he has matured into such a wonderful, wonderful player.'
While Son has been firing on all cylinders, Spurs' upturn in form and subsequent achievement of qualifying for the Champions League can largely be put down to Antonio Conte's arrival at the club in November.
Since Conte's appointment, Spurs have won the third most amount of points in the Premier League behind champions Manchester City and Liverpool, and the Italian is now being given the full backing of the club going into the summer window.
Spurs announced last week that £150million would be injected into the club, with the majority of that large sum being put towards new transfer and additions for the squad.
It's a huge show of faith from chairman Daniel Levy, who has left the club's transfer dealings down to managing director Fabio Paratici.
Paratici helped bring Romero, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to the club within the last year – moves heavily praised by Ardiles and fans alike – but supporters will be hoping similar miracles can be accomplished in this summer window.
And with £150m at Conte's disposal, along with their previously agreed budget and any outgoings, the Spurs boss can mould the team in his image and finally bring an end to the club's trophy drought.
While Ardiles was reluctant to name players Spurs should go for this summer, he did believe the club need to sign a creative midfielder to take the playmaking burden off Kane's shoulders.
'There's going to be a lot of names linked with the club this summer,' Ardiles said. 'I would say Spurs need a creative midfielder. Spurs have a lot of power going forward and they've improved in defence but the number one target I would say is a creative midfielder.
'Spurs need a bigger squad now that they're going to be playing in the Champions League, Premier League and two cups. The bigger squad also needs to full of quality, which is a challenge that they have right now.'
Ossie Ardiles was promoting Premier Sports the exclusive UK broadcaster of The Finalissima match Italy v Argentina on June 1 who will be broadcasting 400 live matches from the UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers for EURO 2024.
Premier Sports is available on Sky, Virgin TV and the Premier Pla
Love Ossie Spurs to his very core.
Spurs icon Ardiles discusses Maradona, Romero and the Finalissima
EXCLUSIVE: In 1993, Ardiles, who made 311 appearances for Spurs, was the club's manager at the time and started to concoct a plan to bring the legendary Argentine to White Hart Lane.www.dailymail.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE: 'He would have LOVED to have played for Spurs': Ossie Ardiles insists Diego Maradona would've relished Tottenham challenge... as club's legendary player discusses Son's 'JOKE' PFA snub, Cristian Romero's rise and the Finalissima
By SAM MCEVOY FOR MAILONLINE
- Diego Maradona would have loved to have played for Spurs, insists Ossie Ardiles
- Spurs icon Ardiles wanted to sign Maradona during his stint as boss in the 90s
- It never came to fruition but Ardiles is sure his late close friend would've joined
- Ardiles also insists Son snub from the PFA Player of the Year voting was a 'joke'
- The 69-year-old says Argentina will win the Finalissima at Wembley tomorrow
- Click here for all the latest World Cup 2022 news and updates
PUBLISHED: 09:19 BST, 31 May 2022 | UPDATED: 13:14 BST, 31 May 2022
Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles has insisted that Diego Maradona would have 'loved' to have played for Spurs - because he thrived when presented with a 'great challenge'.
In 1993, Ardiles, who made 311 appearances and scored 25 goals for Spurs, was the club's manager at the time and started to concoct a plan to sensationally bring one of football's greatest ever players to White Hart Lane.
Ardiles was close friends with Maradona, after the pair won the 1986 World Cup together, and wanted to manage him in the Premier League but a proposed move was canned by Ardiles over Maradona's personal circumstances at the time.
+18
View gallery
Diego Maradona (right) would have 'loved to have played for Tottenham', insists Ossie Ardiles (left) as they pose for a photo before a testimonial match at White Hart Lane in 1986
+18
View gallery
+18
View gallery
Ardiles and Maradona became close friends during their time playing for the Argentinian national team, with Ardiles inviting the legendary forward to a number of Tottenham games
But when asked if Maradona would've considered donning the white shirt in the mid-90s, Ardiles was very confident that it could've been a real possibility.
Ardiles told Sportsmail: 'Yes. As a manger [of Tottenham] there was a possibility of bringing Diego to the club, yes. But Diego, at the time, was in a very bad state himself.
'In 1992 he went to Sevilla in Spain but before he had serious problems in Italy at Napoli with so many people. At the end of the day I imagined him coming here, to England, and because of his history, I put everything into balance and I thought it would be far too much for Diego.'
Spurs went on to sign Jurgen Klinsmann instead that summer, four years after he helped guide West Germany to their third World Cup, and the rest is history.
Ardiles added: 'We were very lucky to have Jurgen Klinsmann at the time – he was a World Cup winner – so he was on the top of his game and was absolutely wonderful for us.'
While Ardiles reveals he never approached Maradona about the move, he remains very confident that the man himself would've said yes to joining Spurs and playing under him in 1993.
'I think Diego would have loved to have come and play here at Tottenham,' Ardiles says. 'Diego loved great challenges and that would've been a great challenge for him, but it never ended up happening.'
Maradona did famously pull on the Tottenham shirt seven years before that in Ardiles' Tottenham testimonial, where 30,000 fans filled out White Hart Lane to watch the Argentine play a game where he borrowed a pair of boots off Spurs icon Clive Allen.
That game at White Hart Lane was just one of six times Maradona played in Britain, which included two trips to the old Wembley. It was a rare occurrence for a South American team to get to play at Wembley in those days but British fans will now get to see Lionel Messi and Co up close and in person for tomorrow night's Finalissima under the Wembley arch.
The special fixture will see the Copa America winners, Argentina, face the European champions, Italy, which is part of a renewed memorandum of understanding between UEFA and South American confederation CONMEBOL.
Ardiles, who is helping promote the match with Premier Sports, insists the occasion should be a great experience for his compatriots and to win the Finalissima at the home of football would be the 'icing on the cake'.
Ardiles said: 'There are so many wonderful stadiums in the world and Wembley is still the home of football.
'Not as much as before because it was incredibly difficult to play at Wembley, as you only played the FA Cup final and if you played for your national team there. They were the only opportunities to play there. Now it's a lot more common.
'So because of that, it's lost a little bit of the prestige it used to have before but it's still a great venue.'
Ardiles believes there will be only one winner in north west London on Wednesday evening, given Italy will still be reeling from their failure to qualify for this winter's World Cup, while Argentina have gone from strength to strength under Lionel Scaloni.
'Every game is very tough and for Argentina to beat Brazil in Brazil [to win the Copa America] is quite an achievement. It's an incredible achievement, really. So Argentina come to the game with a better pedigree and are currently on a 31-game unbeaten streak.
'It's an amazing record and they have a very special squad. You then have to mention that Italy suffer the big defeat of not reaching the World Cup, after being in a group that was not particularly difficult, they should have qualified.
'They then even blew it in qualifying. Italy will not be in the best form and may be down psychologically, but Italy is Italy and they are at their most dangerous when they're not the favourites.
'It's going to be very interesting and a tough game.'
Ardiles himself has been absent from attending games in person in recent months following his successful heart operation back in April.
And having fully recovered from the surgery and a Covid-19 diagnosis last year, Ardiles was keen to send his thanks to the doctors and nurses that looked after him at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.
'After having the operation, I would like to thank everybody [at St Barts hospital] that made this recovery possible,' he said. 'From the moment I was diagnosed, all the doctors and everybody helped me through the operation.
'Mr Uppal, he was the surgeon, and of course all the people at St Barts hospital, the nurses and doctors from there, as well, all my family and friends, particularly to the people at Tottenham, they were very very supportive from the top to the bottom. I would like to express my big, big thank you to them all.'
It's been a positive end to the season for Ardiles and Tottenham, with the club legend thrilled by Spurs' top-four finish ahead of bitter rivals Woolwich as they smashed five past an already-relegated Norwich at Carrow Road.
However, while it ended up being a comfortable victory in Norfolk, Ardiles acknowledged that it could've been another banana skin – if history is anything to go by.
'I'm absolutely delighted because, at one time, it looked out of our hands and the final day was what makes the Premier League the best league in the world,' Ardiles said.
'There was a little bit of trepidation going to Norwich for the last game of the season because of our history. But once the second goal went in, that was it. You could see the differences in the two teams was huge and we won very very comfortably.
'For a lot of different reasons, it was such a great season really. First just to qualify for the Champions League and then there were some outstanding performances – it's very difficult to choose just one.
'Harry Kane, for example, had a very slow start – especially for him – but he finished incredibly strongly.
'I would also like the mention 'Cuti' [Cristian] Romero – he's one of the top defenders in the world without doubt.'
When pressed more on Romero, who hails from Cordoba – the same city in Argentina as Ardiles, he added: 'It's not easy to arrive in English football and acclimatise straight away. It can take quite a long time to do so.
'It looked to me as if he done so extremely quickly. He's very good with the ball, without the ball and is a very good defender. He still needs to learn a few things – he's made one or two mistakes – but he's very clever and will learn from those mistakes.
'But what is his ceiling? I wouldn't like to speculate on that. Making comparisons with other players, I'm not so sure. But I don't know who is better [than him] right now. That is debatable.
'Before he made his move to Atalanta, he already stood out for the national team. For Argentina, some rotate, some play, sometimes they don't. People like [Lionel] Messi and Romero play all the time, so it gives you an idea of how highly-rated he is.
'He's an outstanding player – I'm delighted Spurs have him.'
While Romero has been superb after overcoming injury and a rocky start under Nuno Espirito Santo, there was one Spurs player who Ardiles wanted to reserve special praise for.
'I have to mention who I think was player of the year,' Ardiles added. 'Son Heung-min was absolutely magnificent. In the PFA Player of the Year voting, he was not in the top six.
'That is a joke. He was joint top goalscorer and tied with Mohamed Salah, who was of course wonderful as well, but he [Salah] was in a team fighting to win the Premier League and Champions League. It was much easier for Salah to score goals than it was for Son.
'Spurs finished the season strongly, yes, but there were times at the start of the season when they weren't playing as well. Sometimes he and Harry Kane would not receive the support that they needed. For Son to score this many goals, along with the assists, he has matured into such a wonderful, wonderful player.'
While Son has been firing on all cylinders, Spurs' upturn in form and subsequent achievement of qualifying for the Champions League can largely be put down to Antonio Conte's arrival at the club in November.
Since Conte's appointment, Spurs have won the third most amount of points in the Premier League behind champions Manchester City and Liverpool, and the Italian is now being given the full backing of the club going into the summer window.
Spurs announced last week that £150million would be injected into the club, with the majority of that large sum being put towards new transfer and additions for the squad.
It's a huge show of faith from chairman Daniel Levy, who has left the club's transfer dealings down to managing director Fabio Paratici.
Paratici helped bring Romero, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to the club within the last year – moves heavily praised by Ardiles and fans alike – but supporters will be hoping similar miracles can be accomplished in this summer window.
And with £150m at Conte's disposal, along with their previously agreed budget and any outgoings, the Spurs boss can mould the team in his image and finally bring an end to the club's trophy drought.
While Ardiles was reluctant to name players Spurs should go for this summer, he did believe the club need to sign a creative midfielder to take the playmaking burden off Kane's shoulders.
'There's going to be a lot of names linked with the club this summer,' Ardiles said. 'I would say Spurs need a creative midfielder. Spurs have a lot of power going forward and they've improved in defence but the number one target I would say is a creative midfielder.
'Spurs need a bigger squad now that they're going to be playing in the Champions League, Premier League and two cups. The bigger squad also needs to full of quality, which is a challenge that they have right now.'
Ossie Ardiles was promoting Premier Sports the exclusive UK broadcaster of The Finalissima match Italy v Argentina on June 1 who will be broadcasting 400 live matches from the UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers for EURO 2024.
Premier Sports is available on Sky, Virgin TV and the Premier Pla
This is him in 1996, probably a good thing he didn't sign (still wish he did though).
Gotta love his choice of kit!!!
Question for any Spurs fans who remember 82.
Ossie went to PSG on loan. I always assumed it was due to the war & possibly the World Cup. However, Match Time revisited ( ITV 4) showed United v Spurs from April 82 and Ricky Villa was in the team alongside Hoddle. The commentary track didn’t drown out the United fans anger towards Ricky.
This makes me think that sending Ossie to PSG was not to do with the War.
Anyone know the full story ?
Ossie went to PSG on loan. I always assumed it was due to the war & possibly the World Cup. However, Match Time revisited ( ITV 4) showed United v Spurs from April 82 and Ricky Villa was in the team alongside Hoddle. The commentary track didn’t drown out the United fans anger towards Ricky.
This makes me think that sending Ossie to PSG was not to do with the War.
Anyone know the full story ?
I do recall it was war related and to avoid any confrontation etc in England.
Seem to remember going to Luton after the war when Ossie came back. Away end was rammed and the queue enormous so we went in the home end and walked down the side of the pitch.
Seem to remember going to Luton after the war when Ossie came back. Away end was rammed and the queue enormous so we went in the home end and walked down the side of the pitch.
Ricky would be the same, the only difference seems to be one was still an international in 82.
But Ricky still played, that’s what is odd, before ultimately not making the cup final team that year. Maybe the abuse got too much as the season ended ?
Yeah, strange that. Wikipedia page says he was withdrawn from the final in 82 due to the conflict and spent a year in the States in 83
IIRC, Ossie had a cousin or uncle in the military and he was naturally concerned for his safety, but he made his opinion that The Falklands belonged to Argentina public. I don't think Ricky said anything.
I remember going to Celtic around that time for a pre-season friendly, and it was the only time I remember Ossie getting a good reception after the war.
I remember going to Celtic around that time for a pre-season friendly, and it was the only time I remember Ossie getting a good reception after the war.
That's my memory too; his cousin died in the war.
I thought he had to join up with the
Argentina pre world cup training camp and it was agreed before the invasion.
Argentina pre world cup training camp and it was agreed before the invasion.
A good read.
www.thesportsman.com
From North London To Paris: How The Falklands War Sent Ossie Ardiles To PSG
Ossie Ardiles hit the limelight when he, alongside his compatriot Ricky Villa, joined Tottenham Hotspur on the back of their 1978 World Cup triumph with…
www.thesportsman.com
Legend
One night in May.
Ossie, Ricky and me.
Filling up just thinking about it.
Ossie, Ricky and me.
Filling up just thinking about it.
Don't think I've ever seen a player as brave as him... He did the crazy shit that Robson did but never got the busted limb stuff. Quite how .. 2 this day I can't quite work out ... Tbh I'm in awe..
