“I have seen many teams play well, but for me Holland ‘74 is incomparable. I was 14-years-old when I first saw them and I felt like they played without touching the grass. It seemed to me that the team would touch the ball even before getting it. They had eyes in the back of their heads.
“They already knew that [Johnny] Rep was here (gesturing to his right) and [Willem] van Hanegem was on the other side. And then [Johan] Cruyff was coming from behind and was going to produce moments of magic. It felt like an incredible football symphony.”
While Maradona acknowledges Barca are the best team in world football at present, he believes a drop in the general standard of teams, pointing to the domination of La Liga and Serie A by the same clubs, as proof they cannot be regarded as the greatest of all-time.
“Maybe Barca look as good as they do because the overall level throughout the world has fallen. It is always the same two or three teams winning in Spain and Italy. So when you see a team like Barcelona that has the ball 80 per cent of the time, people say ‘wow what a team’ but really how good is their opponent. And of course they have [Lionel] Messi, which makes them look even better.
“Mind you,” he adds. “It is without a doubt the best team in the world, but the best in history? Only history will tell.”
READ MORE:
* Maradona tells us why Lionel Messi can still not be regarded as the best ever.
* Maradona’s amazing blow-by-blow account of his ‘Goal of the Century’.
* Maradona on why he does not regret his ‘Hand of God’ goal as England “cheated” in 1966.
