The 38-year-old coach – who is the son of late footballing legend Diego Maradona and his former fling Cristiana Sinagra – enjoyed a successful career in beach soccer after failing to set the Italian leagues alight in his younger years and believes his connection to one of the game’s greats held him back.

He told FourFourTwo magazine: “My surname was a handicap, no doubt.

“Sometimes I was told, ‘If you wanted to avoid all this attention, all you had to do was not play football.’

“But I wanted to do because I loved it.

“I had my share of success too, in my own small way. I made more than 100 appearances for Italy’s beach soccer team, I played at two World Cups and two European Championships.

“It didn’t happen because of my name or because of my father.

“I’m one of the 10 most prolific Italian beach soccer players ever and I aolso played football for Italy at youth level.

“It’s true, I wasn’t like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, nor did I get to play in Serie A but that was partly because of my name.”

Diego Jr. – who didn’t meet his father until 2003 and was only recognised by him as his son in 2007 – has never worried too much about being compared unfavourably to his dad on the pitch.

He said: “People have often compared me to my father but that’s superficial.

“He was unique, nothing compares to him.

“Why should I compare myself? Just because I was his son?

“Ludwig van Beethoven’s son didn’t play like his dad did he? They were two different people.”