The New You Know Who

Filed in archive Players on September 4, 2007

The phrase "The New Maradona" gets bandied around a lot. Basically any skilled Argentinian attacking mid or forward gets labelled with it, from Ariel Ortega to Carlos Tevez to Leo Messi. My feeling is that Maradona is a one off, because aside from his redonculous skills, the man was absolutely insane and it was that overemotional nuttiness that made him such a singularity on and off the field. Who else would join struggling Serie club Napoli at the height of their powers, and make it a one-man mission to drag them to the top?

Maradona was a legend in Naples for everything he did, right up to the bitter parting of the ways when Italians booed the Argentinian national anthem in Naples during Italia '90 and Diego mouthed "sons of bitches" at the camera. But one little Argentinian man apparently elicited a cry of "you're better than Diego!" from a Napoli fan this weekend.

Ezequiel Iván Lavezzi made two and scored one as newly promoted and unfancied Napoli went away to Udinese an won 5-0 video above.) He's not better than Maradona of course, and he's not The New Maradona either. But he is an exciting talent worth watching in Serie A this season.