9: Jonas Gutierrez, Argentina, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, England Collector Binder

There is very little more to be said about Diego Maradona. World Cup winner, FIFA Player of the Century, scorer of FIFA’s Goal of the Century, winner of the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball for player of the tournament in 1986 and top of almost every single football writer’s list of all time greats. I only remember seeing him play live in the 1994 World Cup when he was off his nut on ephedrine and even then he scored an absolute beauty of a goal against Greece. Apart from that all I have to go on is archive footage most of which shows a frighteningly talented footballer who regularly pulled off the impossible for club and country. Apparently he also scored a goal with his hand against England once but you don’t hear too much about that.

Besides his narcotic induced screamer in 1994 my only other memory of Maradona was when watching him manage Argentina during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Argentina had struggled during the qualifying competition and had suffered an embarrassing 6-1 defeat to Bolivia en route to the finals. Nevertheless, they had an enviable array of talent at their disposal including the exceptional Lionel Messi. Argentina soared through the group stages with three victories and brushed Mexico aside in the second round. However, a dominant German side trounced Argentina in the quarter-finals and Maradona’s position came under scrutiny. At first the Argentinian FA promised him a four-year contract extension. However, within a fortnight, they had changed their minds and Maradona was out of a job.

Much was made of Maradona’s failure to win the World Cup on the back of Lionel Messi’s individual brilliance. Comparisons between the two players have been constant and it has been suggested that the pressure of living up to Maradona’s legend has stymied Messi’s performances at international level. Perhaps one of the underlying issues in 2010 was that, unlike every armchair pundit, Maradona did not see Messi as the player to build his team around. When asked who would be in his starting line up for their first game against Nigeria he responded with “Messi, Mascherano, Jonas and eight others”.

Jonas, or Jonas Manuel Gutierrez to give him his full name, was primarily a right-midfielder who spent seven years in England with Newcastle United. Upon arrival on Tyneside in 2008 he informed the club he would be sporting his first name rather than his surname above his squad number because he “liked his name”. He provided a rare glimmer of light in a season which saw the Toon relegated to the Championship despite the input of ‘Football Management Consultant’ Iain Dowie and club legend Alan Shearer. Jonas stuck with the club throughout their troubles and was instrumental in their return to the Premier League and fifth place finish two years later.

During the 2012/13 season Jonas helped guide Newcastle to the quarter-finals of the Europa League in an otherwise mediocre campaign. It was in the close season that a cancerous tumour was discovered in his testicle. He returned to Argentina for successful surgery and was back training by the start of 2014. However, Jonas struggled to force his way back into the Newcastle side until 2015 when he played a pivotal role in securing the club’s Premier League survival by assisting one and scoring another in an emotional 2-0 win over West Ham at St James’s Park.

Newcastle’s manager at the time, John Carver, had been quoted describing himself as “the best coach in the Premier League” despite leading them to eight successive losses during the 2014/15 campaign. As well as misplaced arrogance, Carver can also add appalling man-management to his CV as, following Jonas’ heroics, the Argentine was made aware of his release from Newcastle via team-mate Ryan Taylor’s phone conversation with Carver. After the heart warming scenes on the last day of the season this felt like harsh treatment even by a club owned by Mike Ashley’s standards.

After a season with Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, Jonas returned to Argentina where, among others, he has spent two seasons with the fantastically named Defensa y Justicia. He won the hearts and minds of the Newcastle fans during his seven years at the club, no mean feat, but perhaps the highest praise came from international team-mate Messi who described him as one of the best players in the Premier League. Jonas may have been shafted by John Carver but he’ll always be one of the first names on Maradona’s team sheet.