Some of the World Cup’s standouts through history have enjoyed an affiliation with UAE football at some point in their careers.
Here, we highlight a select group who have had a sizeable impact on the game’s grandest stage. World Cup-winning captain with Argentina in 1986, runner-up four years later, and manager of his national team in 2010, arguably the game’s greatest-ever exponent coached Al Wasl between 2011 and 2012.
He then made a surprise appearance at second-division Fujairah, although lasting less than one year, from May 2017. Also employed as a Dubai Sports Council ambassador.
Late Argentinian football legend and the then Al-Wasl team coach, Diego Maradona, cutting a cake during a celebration marking his 51st birthday in Dubai, on October 30, 2011.