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Rio Ferdinand Presents

Gabriel Batistuta: Maradona v Messi + My part in Diego’s Demise

3/25/202637 min

One of the most iconic goalscorers sits down with Rio to reveal what made him so lethal as an Argentina and Serie A number 9.

Having shared a dressing room and friendship with the legendary Diego Maradona, Batistuta reveals what it was like for team mates and managers to share a dressing room and feed off his persona.

Batistuta gives some amazing insight into the life of Maradona and how his upbringing led to an extraordinary life of fame and success both on and off the pitch before a sad demise.

After comparing Maradona to Lionel Messi, Batistuta names the three world strikers that impress him the most in today’s game and also reveals how and injury and resulting pain in his ankle made him ask a surgeon to amputate it.

Thankfully, he was able to overcome that pain and now sits down with Rio to show a side of his character that few have ever seen - including a discussion where they both dissect each other’s games after Rio admitted ‘Batigol’ was the first “iconic” striker he faced - in the 2002 World Cup.

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Clips

Batistuta on Maradona’s lonely end
“I told them: amputate.”
“If you look, you’re dead.”
Becoming Batigol, by mindset
Messi versus Maradona, charisma gap
Reading defenders, not the ball
You’re born with timing
Haaland’s sleepy then sudden strike

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Hayden0:00

    Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fanfellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast, and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

  2. Stephen0:08

    And I'm Stephen, your bookish internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

  3. Hayden0:11

    And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic, Mistborn. But here's the catch, Stephen here has not read Mistborn before.

  4. Stephen0:20

    That's right, Hayden. So each week, you'll get my unfiltered, raw reactions to every single chapter.

  5. Hayden0:25

    And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Stephen will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert, he'll be wrong.

  6. Stephen0:32

    Newsflash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy Fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

  7. Rio Ferdinand· Host0:39

    [gentle music] Did you think about football like you blame football a little bit, resent football, or was you okay with- No, no, I blame myself. Okay.

  8. Gabriel Batistuta· Guest0:48

    Yeah. It's all about me.

  9. Rio Ferdinand· Host0:51

    Batigol Gabriel Batistuta, one of the most devastating strikers world football has ever seen.

  10. Gabriel Batistuta· Guest0:58

    You look at me, you are- Dead ... dead. [laughs] If you are look at the ball, you are dead too.

  11. Rio Ferdinand· Host1:04

    [laughs] He broke and held some amazing goal-scoring records, surpassed only recently by Lionel Messi.

  12. Gabriel Batistuta· Guest1:11

    Messi score 1,000 goals, and Maradona score 200. Messi is a quiet boy. Maradona wasn't. Maradona was, was an ace, the top.

  13. Rio Ferdinand· Host1:25

    But how many people truly understand what made him so feared and

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