Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has become the latest to pay tribute to Argentina legend Diego Maradona following his death on Wednesday.
The world of football is in mourning as a legend of the game was laid to rest and following Spurs' 4-0 win over Ludogorets in the Europa League Mourinho shared his memories of Maradona.
Maradona played for Tottenham in Ossie Ardiles' testimonial in the same year he helped Argentina win the 1986 World Cup and was also a good friend of the Portuguese boss.
'There is Maradona and there is Diego. Maradona I don’t need to speak about because the world knows and nobody will forget,' he told BT Sport.
'Diego is different, the people that are the big friends of him, the people that share dressing rooms with him, colleagues, these guys are privileged.
'I can say he was a good friend of mine, but my contacts with him were by telephone and we met of course a few times.
'He had a big, big, big, big heart. That’s the guy I miss, because his football we can find every time we miss him, if we Google we will find it. But Diego, no.
Mourinho recalled his telephone conversations with the former No 10, lifting the lid on what Maradona used to tell him following a loss.
'I spent the day today telling stories to my guys about him and the time we spent together and that's the guy I miss,' he added. 'I especially miss the phone call that was always arriving after defeats and never after victories.
'He knew that after victories I don't need phone calls, he knew that in difficult moments he was always there and he was always saying after defeats: 'Mo, don't forget you are the best'. He always had this approach.
'I miss Diego.'
Maradona died of a heart attack on Wednesday. Thousands of fans packed the streets around the presidential palace where Maradona lay in state on Thursday and thousands more lined the highways in the afternoon to catch a glimpse of his hearse as it rolled past surrounded by police vehicles.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com