Lovely story about the Argentine infamous in England for his legendary footballing talent and gratuitous cheating in the 1986 World Cup.
Courtesy of Times Online
While Diego Maradona has maintained a rather distant and aloof presence on his first return to Scotland in 28 years, his mood lifted in one magical moment for Adam Brown, a 13-year-old ball boy, last night.
As Argentina trained at Celtic Park in preparation for the friendly with Scotland at nearby Hampden Park on Wednesday, a message on the giant electronic screens read "Celtic welcomes Diego Maradona and the team of Argentina to paradise".
But it almost turned into a nightmare for Maradona, who had misplaced a St Christopher's medallion he had been given to look after by Fernando Gago, the Real Madrid midfielder.
The stocky 48-year-old led a frantic ten minute search for the lost pendant, as his staff and a dozen ball boys - Celtic's Under-14 squad – formed a police-style cordon and walked down the pitch before Brown found the crucifix on a chain.
A joyous Maradona, who had been fairly quiet during the warm-up and a nine-a-side practice game which he refereed, whooped with delight, bounded up and embraced Brown. He then gave him his woolly hat in gratitude amid cheers from a few spectators in the stands.
"He just said thank you to me," a delighted Brown said. "I will probably frame the hat and gloves."
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