Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino recalls how former roommate Maradona went missing and ended up shooting reporters
Spurs manager has the temperament to deal with any drama... thanks to spending time with the Argentina legend
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MAURICIO POCHETTINO has the temperament to deal with any drama thrown at him — thanks to dealing with Diego Maradona.
The Spurs boss once shared a room with the Argentina legend.
Maradona went AWOL on a pre-season tour — travelling 250 miles back to Buenos Aires and then shooting reporters with an air rifle outside his house.
The Spurs chief, 45, recalled: “We were together in the room during pre-season.
“I remember one day he started shooting the journalists in Argentina. The day before, he was sleeping in my room.
“He loved basketball and went to see a final in town. In the morning he wasn’t in bed.
“I then go to breakfast, the manager asked about him and I said, ‘No, he didn’t come back to the hotel’.
“After breakfast we went to training. Nobody knew about Diego and at lunchtime it was breaking on the television — Diego shoots journalists in Buenos Aires — 400km away!”
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That happened in February 1994 when the pair played for Newell’s Old Boys.
Maradona, 56, ended up injuring four people and received a suspended jail sentence.
Just a few months later, the ‘Hand of God’ ace was sent home in disgrace from the USA World Cup after testing positive for drugs.
Poch added: “I love him. I love everything about him. I knew Maradona, the real Maradona.
“We see him on the pitch and then there is his image. Outside it was crazy.
“But if he arrived here and opened the door, we’d all be in love with him. His energy, his personality and he’s a person that when he’s with you, he makes you feel the best.”
