Source: Daily_Mail
Is United's destroyer Messi the first 'New Maradona' worthy of the name?
If you're a promising footballer, five foot nothing and from Argentina, there's a good chance you'll be described as the 'New Maradona'.
Pundits and punters alike fall over themselves to hail the 'new Diego', the player who can take on the Argentine's mantel as a force in world football.
If you type the phrase into an internet search engine, you get 340,000 entries. And that's just the English web pages.
Lionel Messi's header against Manchester United in the Champions League final was a case in point.
Sportsmail described Barcelona's second goal as the 'Head of God', a reference to El Diego's 'Hand of God' against England in the World Cup quarter-finals of 1986.
It is not the first time similarities have been drawn between Messi's talent and the ability of his national coach.
The Barcelona player's strike in a 5-2 win against Getafe in 2007 ignited the debate - Messi's dribbling and trickery had clear echoes of Maradona's spellbinding winner against England in 1986.
Messi's not immune to putting the ball in the back of the net using his hand, either.
Helping hand: Messidonna cheekily scores against Espanyol
Now, finally, 12 years after Maradona retired, his successor may have been crowned.
Diego Latorre, who disappeared without trace after joining Fiorentina in 1991, was the original 'new Maradona', but what about the long list of players who have followed?
Sportsmail brings you a sample of the footballers living in Diego's shadow...
Javier Saviola
The 5ft 6in striker was hailed as the 'new Maradona' when he became the youngest player to win El Goleador, the Golden Boot, in the Argentine league. Whose record did he beat? Maradona's of 1978.
The comparisons continued thanks to Saviola's heroics in the 2001 Under 20 World Cup when he scored 11 goals and was named player of the tournament - just like Maradona in the 1979 competition.
Saviola's decision to leave River Plate, whom he helped to the Argentine championship, and join Barcelona for £20m did not help matters. The Nou Camp was also Maradona's first European port of call when he left Boca Juniors in 1982.
But then the wheels came off . Saviola, nicknamed 'The Little Rabbit', fell out of favour at Barcelona and his 2007 move to Real Madrid has failed to get his career back on track. As if things couldn't get any worse, he's been linked with Newcastle United.
In 2001 the BBC Sport said: 'His goal in his home city against Ghana ensures he'll continue to be saddled with the tag of being "The New Maradona'" for a bit longer.'
Juan Roman Riquelme
He may not look like Maradona (he's 6ft tall) or, indeed, emulate El Diego in the way he plays, but he certainly followed in Maradona's footsteps in his playing career.
Both started at Boca Juniors, wore the No 10 shirt and were successful before moving to Spain and struggling at Barcelona.
But Maradona and Riquelme (left) went on to find glory with smaller clubs and returned to Boca Juniors later in their careers.
An article in The Scotsman called Riquelme 'the daddy' of all the so-called 'new Maradonas' in 2006.
Pablo Aimar
A 5ft 7ins number 10, Aimar (right) fitted the 'new Maradona' bill as he helped Argentina to the 1997 Coca-Cola World Youth Cup.
Success with River Plate led to a £20m move to Rafa Benitez's Valencia, with whom Aimar won La Liga and reached the Champions League final.
Diego Maradona once described Aimar as his 'legitimate successor as the world's best player' and said he would pay to watch him play.
Carlos Tevez
Maradona called Tevez 'the Argentinian prophet for the 21st century', which sounds like a lot of South American hyperbolic drivel but makes the point.
Squat, 5ft 6in, no oil painting but a powerful, explosive player, Tevez (left) was touted as the 'new Maradona' when he burst on to the scene with Boca Juniors in 2001.
The pair became close and Maradona has admitted the Manchester United striker is like a 'son' to him.
A 2004 BBC Sport article declared: '"The new Maradona" - Carlos Tevez - is joining Corinthians for nearly $20m in a strong candidate for the strangest move of the year.' We all know what happened after that...
Ariel Ortega
Ortega enjoyed early success with River Plate and impressed on the international scene with his pace and dribbling ability.
The 5ft 7in attacking midfielder was a key part of the Argentina team for over a decade, representing his country at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
But, like Maradona, Ortega's off-field antics had a negative impact on his performance on the pitch.
Alcoholism has dogged his career, while his temper sometimes got the better of him. Remember Ortega head-butting Edwin Van der Sar at the 1998 World Cup?
ABC article: '[Ortega was] dubbed the new Maradona when he broke onto the international stage as a teenager.'
Andres d'Alessandro
A 19-year-old d'Alessandro trained with Harry Redknapp's West Ham in 2001, with the Hammers boss saying: 'He's a fantastic talent. He's the type of lad that can play anywhere.
'He's very skilful with terrific ability. He is similar to Joe Cole so that can't be bad.'
Forget Joe Cole, d'Alessandro was lauded as the latest 'new Maradona' after coming through the River Plate youth ranks and impressing during the 2001 Under 20 World Cup.
Just 5ft 4in, the playmaker eventually moved to Europe in 2003, joining Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for £6.2m.
'A young Argentine dubbed "the new Maradona" has been training with West Ham,' said The Daily Star in February 2001.
The latest 'Argentine wonder kid' joined Chelsea in January 2008 after spending two years at Chilean side Audux Italiano La Florida.
Di Santo shows just how far the 'new Maradona' label stretches - he's 6ft 4ins and 13-stone worth of muscle, but he's still going to be the next Diego. We'll see.
'Up to 10 Premier League clubs are chasing the signature of 6ft 4in, 18-year-old Argentine wonderkid Franco Di Santo - described as the new Maradona,' said BBC Sport's Sunday gossip column in August 2007.
Carlos Marinelli
Marinelli was a tad tall for the Maradona comparisons (5ft 11ins), but he came to Europe from Boca Juniors so everyone overlooked that.
Even Middlesbrough, who signed the 17-year-old for £1.5m in 1999.
He had a miserable time in Teesside and skulked back to Argentina after being released at the end of the 2003 season.
Boro manager Bryan Robson said: 'People always like to tag a player and I hope he does turn out the be the new Maradona.
'That would be a great buy for us - but there's a long way to go before that.' You're not kidding...
And finally...There really is a 'new Maradona'. And we don't mean Lionel Messi.
Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero, a 5ft 7in Argentina striker also often likened to El Diego, is engaged to Maradona's daughter, Giannina, who gave birth to the couple's first child in February this year.
Benjamin (left, with father Sergio) is Maradona's first grandson and expectations are already rife that the baby will follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps.
Well, he's hardly going to be a giant, is he?
