In a previous job several of my colleagues would call me Lionel on a routine basis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7n1-batJPU
Also, my grandma's last boyfriend was called Lionel.
Many of Maradonna's - pretty much all his matches in the 82, 86 and 90 world cups and Italian football was always pretty popular in Canada back in the day, they had games on the telly every weekend. Quite the large Italian Canadian population in Toronto.
Cruyff I saw little of. Danish football just didn't have the following needed to have it televised in Canada back then.
"Plenty of strikers can score goals," he said, gesturing to the famous old stands casting shadows around us.
"But a lot have found it difficult wearing the number 9 shirt for The Arsenal."