It was the last goodbye from arguably the greatest footballer of the last century. Men like Brazilian ace Pele, French genius Michel Platini, ex-Manchester United star Eric Cantona, German doyen Lothar Matthaus, eccentric Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita and Bulgarian star Hristo Stoichkov were just some of the famous former players who travelled all the way to Buenos Aires to pay him tribute.

The player in question is Diego Armando Maradona. Last Saturday, Argentina's most controversial footballer enjoyed an unusual farewell testimonial at the ripe old age of 41, when he turned out to play along with the current Argentina World Cup side against a World Stars XI in Boca Juniors' home stadium, La Bombonera.

Last weekend was, of course, crammed with much more important football action of the World Cup kind. Perhaps, that is why the Anglo-Saxon world paid little or no attention to the "Maradona Day" in Buenos Aires.

Or could it be that there are those, especially but not exclusively in British sports media circles, who remember Maradona as much for his infamous "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico as for his peerless talent? Could it be that, for some at least, Maradona was just a cheat?

Even those who feel that way, however, might have been moved to sympathy, had they witnessed events at the Bombonera. Bloated and looking about two stone overweight, Maradona was but a pathetic mirage of the once great player. The passing of the years is always the greatest enemy of the professional sportsman but, in Maradona's case, it has taken a heavy toll.

At the end of an exhibition game in which his only significant action had been to score two goals from the penalty spot, he took up the microphone to thank the 60,000 fans who had turned up to honour him. With tears streaming down his face, he said: "There isn't a greater sport in the world than football. This match today really mattered a lot to me. I am very, very grateful to you all."

As the crowd cheered and applauded, the emotion became too much and the aged, burnt-out old warrior turned to the arms of his two young daughters, Dalma and Giannina.

He looked for all the world like a shipwreck victim, clinging to the only lifeline left to him. That may well be the case. Maradona talks a lot these days about wanting to coach his beloved Boca Juniors, the club where he first hit international stardom. Pele has offered him work teaching youngsters in Brazil. His name and his fame still make waves in South America.

For all that, though, Maradona's next stop will probably be Havana, Cuba, where he has lived on and off for the last two years and where his major concern is to fight off the cocaine addiction that has afflicted him for the last 15 years. Remember, that addiction eventually saw him twice out of world football - once for cocaine in 1991 and then for efedrine during his comeback at the 1994 USA World Cup finals.

"The truth is that I had a drug problem, everybody knows that now, but I certainly didn't take drugs in order to be better at football," he said last weekend.

Not only those of us who were privileged to see him play, but also former rivals such as Italy and AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini would agree. In an interview with your correspondent last year, Maldini said: "After you have played against Maradona, all the rest seem small fry. Diego was the greatest not just because of his outstanding ability but also because of his charisma, his ability to inspire team-mates. He had an extraordinary desire to win, he was capable of setting a stadium alight and yet he never ever said anything bad about his opponents.

"If he lost, he was always the first to hold out his hand and say well done. Perhaps the English don't see him that way but, for me, Diego was a great sportsman."

Just a cheat, then?