Impromptu moves, worshiping hoards and football saw Diego Maradona and UAE forge true alliance

Poignantly, both clubs meet in the Arabian Gulf League on Thursday.

A role as ‘Sporting Ambassador’ of Dubai Sports Council was bestowed on the venerated World Cup 1986 talisman and miracle-working, two-time Serie A champion with Napoli. This led to Maradona being summoned from his luxurious getaway on The Palm to greet the great and good attracted by the city’s bright lights.

But such bare facts, as always, only scratch the surface of the Argentina icon’s vivid legacy.

Stories apocryphal, embellished and factual are shared within the Emirates’ varied communities. They define a footballer who will be eternally cherished.

This writer is fortunate to possess several.

A frantic afternoon race to Sport360’s offices to sweep up as many copies as possible after grateful acceptance of an award for the – then – newspaper’s all-time World Cup legend was followed by a request to take a hundred back to Argentina to show the “ninos” (“kids”). In time for that evening’s flight.

His common touch backstage on ‘The Victorious’ talent show, where a torrent of fellow megastars such as Ryan Giggs were greeted with the same grace as the lowliest studio runner.

Playful jibes about the ‘Hand of God’ during a touchline interview with his English interviewer at Fujairah Stadium. A lasting handshake and warm “hermanos” (“brothers”) once our lengthy chat was concluded.

Other sources regale about a member of staff tasked to translate Sport360’s pages every morning, lavish tips handed out to street cleaners, extraordinary generosity to Wasl staff, impromptu kickabouts at Dubai Police Officers Club, fevered crowds at restaurant openings in Abu Dhabi and weekly touchline support – just like all the other uncelebrated partners – for his girlfriend’s five-a-side team at Dubai Sports City.

Ascertaining the veracity of such incidents didn’t feel important. Better to let the myth grow, unless something needed verifying for print.

Maradona was one of those singular characters from which fact and fiction are equally entertaining.

He was only meant to stop over in Dubai on his way to a ground opening in the Chechen capital of Grozny. Yet a crowd of 10,000 would be there to greet him days later at Zabeel Stadium, after an opportunistic offer of employment from a Wasl official was accepted.

Weekly press conferences, performed in the impenetrable brogue imbued by his Villa Fiorito upbringing, became global media events. This, distinctly, never happens in Asian football.

Then there was the union with one of few equally tempestuous footballers. An inexplicable 10^th-minute head butt from goalkeeper Majed Nasser, already serving a 17-match domestic ban for slapping Al Ahli tactician Quique Sanchez Flores, sparked unlikely meltdown against Bahrain’s Al Muharraq in the GCC Championships League final.

Twitter’s nascent power was felt when video spread of Maradona ‘kicking’ an intruding supporter’s hand for the unravelling of a banner of support from his grandson.

“I’d like to apologise to one of the fans. I was trying to unfurl and see the whole banner and, by mistake, I perhaps injured him,” was his take on the situation.

Dubai residents, just like their counterparts in London, are loathed to leave their metropolis’ confines. Yet the media hordes hurtled to Fujairah’s Al Diar Siji Hotel for Maradona’s unveiling five years later once a shock move was wrapped up.

An often-bizarre press conference was begun by repeatedly bellowing “cafe” (“coffee”) down the microphone and then insisting he wanted his grandson and children to witness “the glory of their grandfather and father”.

Serenity, so fleeting in such an epic existence, would detail the majority of this stint away from the typical intense spotlight.

A near two-hour daily commute to training was enlivened by humorous Instagram Stories and sing-alongs. On the pitch, enchanted and well-drilled players – thanks to No2 Luis Islas – would go undefeated.

Their efforts, however, were undermined by 11 draws in a goal-shy team. Then came that last fixture…

This is where the infamous dichotomy between ‘Diego’ and ‘Maradona’ emerged. With gusto.

A 1-1 draw against Khor Fakkan denied Fujairah their essential top-two berth, sparking a raucous chain of events leading to the coach’s abrupt exit. Contorted claims and counter-claims of sackings, resignations, returns and terminated talks brought a sorry end to a chapter which promised so much.

Switches to Belarus’ Dynamo Brest, Mexico’s Dorados de Sinaloa and Argentina’s Gimnasia de La Plata took him away from the UAE. Before this week’s mournful ends brought a definitive finale.

Multi-faceted Maradona touched millions of lives, producing a multitude of conflicting interpretations.

My choice? I’ll forever recall the unkempt figure at Fujairah Stadium, knees and ankles crippled by brutal tackles, performing slow-motion nutmegs on his players and barking “Arriba, arriba, arriba, arriba”.

At peace, in his own way, on a far-away football pitch. Just him, his players and the ball.