'Playing against Diego Maradona was an honour - he's a superstar of superstars'

And on the night of his sad passing the Dubliner reflected on how fortunate he was to have shared a pitch with one of the greatest footballers of all time.

The 60 year-old Sligo Rovers manager was part of a League of Ireland select which travelled to Buenos Aires in 1980 as a 20 year-old Maradona scored a memorable winner.

Commenting after Sligo's penalty shootout victory over Derry City in the FAI Cup quarter-final on Wednesday - the night news of Maradona's death broke, Buckley said it was 'an honour' to have rubbed shoulders with a true footballing genius.

"He was a wonderful footballer," he said. "A superstar of superstars'.

It was just two years after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in 1978 and Maradona was making his emergence in the senior national team.

Buckley, just 20 years-old himself at the time, couldn't have predicted the impact the man he shared the pitch with that day would leave on world football.

"There was a League of Ireland selection many moons ago, playing Argentina. I remember I would've been 20 at the time - the same age as Diego," recalled Buckley.

"He played and he was fantastic. At that time there wasn't too much about him.

"I remember being interviewed before the game as a 20 year-old playing in the League of Ireland selection and he was playing in the Argentina selection. They asked me about him and I didn't know too much about him at the time.

"But my God what a career that lad had. He's a superstar of superstars - he was brilliant. And he was brilliant in that match that night.

"He was wonderful. It's just sad how it finished up for him and it's a terribly sad time for his family. He's a hero in Argentina but he'll be sadly missed."

Maradona was controversially left out of the '78 World Cup winning squad but he showed his true class on that night in the River Plate Stadium.

Picking up the ball on the halfway line, he skipped past two League of Ireland players before firing his shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to win the match.

"It was a top goal and he played well the whole match. It was a memorable occasion," added Buckley.

"It was an honour to play against him. As I was going through my career he was just jumping through levels that were just unbelievable.

"He's won World Cups for Argentina nearly on his own and the goals he scored against England were world class - even the handball but we'll excuse him for that," he laughed. "He was a wonderful footballer."

Far removed from those halcyon days playing against Maradona in one of the most famous football stadiums in the world, Buckley is now plotting a path to domestic success with Sligo Rovers.

Having edged their way past Derry 3-1 on penalties last Wednesday, Sligo take on FAI Cup holders Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght tomorrow (Sunday) for a place in the competition final at the Aviva Stadium on December 6th.

Buckley was far from impressed with his team's sluggish performance against Derry and knows they must improve significantly if they're to end Rovers' bid for a league and cup 'double'.

"There wasn't a lot in the game in fairness and I'm sure Derry will feel a little bit hard done by," said Buckley.

"Arguably they've had the better chances and we were bang average. We just looked a little bit flat. The performance in Dundalk a couple of weeks ago and that performance tonight was chalk and cheese and I'm kind of wondering about our programme of training we've implemented over the last few days.

"We'll have a look at all that. We've just got three days now to get some recovery into the boys and make sure we play better on Sunday against Shamrock Rovers, otherwise we'll be out.

"Ideally you would like a little more time. We'll make sure they're ready to go but we must play better.

"Derry looked more energetic than we looked at times and we've been training for the last two weeks.

"That's what I'll have to look back on. They looked like they had a training session too much in their legs to be honest.

"Should we beat Shamrock Rovers on Sunday, nobody remembers the quarter-final or previous rounds. They just remember finals and we're still in the mix, you never know.

"We'll have to be at our best against Shamrock Rovers. They're the top team in the country this year and I've no doubt they have their eye on the double."