“The Butcher of Bilbao” pays respect to Maradona
Andoni Goikoetxea who earned the nickname especially for his infamous tackle on Maradona has given his condolences to Diego Maradona.
“I just found about about Maradona’s death, It makes me very sad. He was a genius who was born to play football. Rest in peace, Diego.” Goikoetxea wrote on social media.
The Argentine legend had struggled with his health problems ever since his retirement in the late 1990s.
Goikoetxea’s tribute is significant due to the incident that occurred between him and Maradona at Camp Nou in 1983, where he injured then-Barcelona striker, depriving his chance for a massive brawl at the end of the 1984 Copa Del Rey final.
However, they cleared the air when Maradona returned to Bilbao to play for Sevilla. “After the cup final that we won with Endika’s goal and that mess of kicks and blows that was unfortunate, Maradona went to play for Napoli,” Goikoetxea remembered recently as quoted in Mundo Deportivo.
“Then he returned to Sevilla, and when he came to play in Bilbao I called the team delegate because I wanted to say hello. We spent a while chatting together at the hotel, spending half an hour having coffee.” Goikoetxea said that they spent the time talking about life, as well as their children and their families.
Maradona player 1982 World Cup hosted by Spain, before playing for Barcelona and Sevilla, While Goikoetxea spent whole his career in Athletic Bilbao.
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