Diego Maradona passed away on 25 November 2020 at an age of 60. He was arguably the greatest footballer ever to grace the sport. Blessed with exquisite dribbling skills, incredible vision on the field and an eye for goals, Maradona was a genius who could change the tempo of the games and singlehandedly carry his team to victories.
With his demise, let us recap the legend’s most unforgettable moments in football.
Goal of The Century
In the 1986 World Cup, Maradona scored one of the greatest and most memorable goals the world had ever seen. It was the intense quarter-finals, with England as the tough opponent.
In the 55th minute, Maradona received the ball from teammate Héctor Enrique in Argentina’s own half. In 10 seconds, covering a distance of 55m, Maradona sprinted and dribbled past four English players (Peter Reid, Peter Beardsley, Terry Butcher (twice) and Terry Fenwick), before slotting the ball calmly past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The extraordinary goal had all the fans and commentators erupted into wild ecstasy.
The Hand of God
Before the Goal of The Century, Maradona scored a much controversial goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 lead. In the 51st minute, the ball was played into England’s penalty box, and Maradona was the first to charge in, leaping high to head the goal. Peter Shilton rushed out in an attempt to punch the ball to safety. At that instant, Maradona’s raised fist, close to his head, hit the ball into the net. He immediately celebrated wildly with his teammates.
Both the referee and linesman awarded the goal, much to the fury of the English players. Till this day, many English fans still condemn this illegitimate goal by Maradona.
World Cup Triumph
The 25-year-old Maradona was simply the best player in the world when he captained Argentina to lift the 1986 World Cup triumph. Beating Uruguay, England, Belgium and West Germany along the way, he scored five goals as assisted a further five goals. Along with the World Cup trophy, Maradona also deservingly won the Golden Ball award as the best player in the tournament.
Maradona would captain Argentina again in the 1990 World Cup. Once again, he led the team to the final but this time, they were defeated by West Germany.
Maradona vs six Belgian players
This was a classic photo demonstrating the greatness of Maradona, although the truth was that the photo was taken shortly after a Argentine freekick, and the six Belgian players were part of the wall formed to defend the freekick. This took place in the first group game of the 1982 World Cup, and Belgium actually won 1-0.
But Maradona would have the last laugh when he scored two goals to knock Belgium out in the 1986 World Cup semi-finals.
Napoli, Scudetto and UEFA Cup
After two troubled seasons at Barcelona, Maradona moved to Napoli for a world transfer fee record of £6.9 million. It was at the Neapolitan club that he played the best club football and enjoyed the peak of his career. In the 1986/87 and 89/90 seasons, Maradona led Napoli to their first two – and till date, the only two – Scudetto in club history. In between these two titles, Napoli also finished as runner-ups in the league. In 1988/89, Napoli added their one and only European title – the UEFA Cup – to their trophy cabinet.
Although Maradona left the club in 1992 in a turbulent manner due to drug abuse and personal issues, Napoli nevertheless honoured their club legend by retiring the number 10 jersey.
27.11.2020
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