Maradona is the greatest - Zola
Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola insists that former Napoli team-mate Diego Maradona deserved his award as the best player of the century ahead of Pele in a recent Fifa poll.
While Zola admits it is difficult to compare the two great players, who eventually received an award each as Fifa attempted to find a diplomatic solution, he revealed that Maradona had been the "model" for his early career.
And he maintains that for all the problems which the Argentina international may have suffered off the pitch, he has never seen a better player since.
"Maradona was the best player in the world when I went to Napoli," Zola told radio station BBC London Live.
"I was so lucky to have him in front of me training every day. He was someone I used as a model and there could not have been a better one for me than him.
"Unfortunately, he had a few problems with other things, but that didn't matter for me.
