From the publisher:
Big Boots to Fill is the story of Argentina's search for a worthy heir to the great Diego Maradona. When Maradona led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 and Napoli to their first Italian title a year later, he was regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time. Since then, in his homeland of Argentina, generations of players have been hyped as the 'new Maradona'.
Some of them achieved eminence in their own right - players like the great Juan Roman Riquelme, troubled Ariel Ortega, beloved Carlos Tevez and magical Pablo Aimar. Others wilted under the huge weight of expectation and ended their careers in obscure backwaters, playing in lower leagues. It was not until the emergence of Lionel Messi that the country had a worthy wearer of the sobriquet 'the new Maradona'.
This is the tale of Argentinian football between Maradona and Messi, of all the highly touted players who have come and gone in between, and their struggles with the pressure of living up to the legend of the Argentine number 10 shirt.
The author:
David Nolan has loved Argentinian football since he first saw Diego Maradona play in the 1982 World Cup. He wrote about South American football in the 2000s on his blog and for several websites. He is also the author of a series of crime novels set in Dublin in the 1910s.
---