The world of football lost one of it’s shining beacons on Wednesday as the legendary Diego Maradona passed away at the age of 60. Maradona made an entire generation fall in love with football and though he had a troubled personal life, he was worshipped by football fans across the world. His senior career began at the tender age of 16 with Argentinos Juniors and played as a professional for 20 years before ending his career with Boca Juniors. Maradona’s departure has created a huge void in Football fraternity.
In those 20 years, he lived a life filled with highs and lows but the impact he created on the football pitch remained unchanged. His larger than life image meant that even people who never watched him developed a feeling of respect towards him. The sheer number of people mourning Maradona’s demise shows how beloved he was by his compatriots and opponents alike. In this article, we will take a look at the exploits of Maradona which made him a global phenomenon,
3. Standing ovation in Madrid
Maradona debuted as the youngest player in the history of Argentina Primera Division and gradually became a household name in Argentina. By the time he was sold from Argentinos Juniors to Boca Juniors, he was already a world-class player and won the first league title of his career with Boca in 1982. Barcelona broke the bank in the summer of 1982 to buy Maradona for a world record fee of £5 million. In his first season at the Camp Nou, Diego won the Copa Del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
However, the highlight of his Barcelona career came in the Copa de La Liga clash against Real Madrid on June 26, 1983. In the first leg in Santiago Bernabéu, Carrasco scored the first goal to give Barcelona the lead. Maradona doubled Barcelona’s lead four minutes later with a sublime goal. He ran around the goalkeeper and waited until defender Juan Jose clashed into the post to slot the ball into the net. A stunned Santiago Bernabéu crowd stood up in awe to applaud the sheer genius of Maradona.
2. The God of Naples
After a controversial fight in the 1984 Copa Del Rey final, Maradona was sold to Napoli for £6.9 million, thus breaking the world record fee once again. His move to Southern Italy surprised many as Serie A was completely dominated by clubs from the Northern part of Italy. But it was typical of Maradona to go against the establishment and he guided Napoli SSC to its first league title in 1987. With Maradona, Napoli became a force in Italy as they finished as runners-up in the league in 1988 and 1989 while winning the Coppa Italia in 1987.
Napoli’s only European success to date came in 1989 as they won the UEFA Cup with Maradona scoring in the final. The fact that Napoli has not won a league title or any European honor since Maradona’s departure is an ode to the little magician’s greatness.
1. Maradona’s World Cup victory
The 1986 World Cup is the reason for Maradona’s universal fame as he led Argentina to glory with stellar performances throughout the tournament. He scored only one goal in the group stages but he stamped his authority against England in a memorable quarter-final.
He first scored a controversial goal using his hand and then dribbled past the entire England team to score the second goal which is commonly accepted as the greatest goal in World Cup history. He went on to score another brace against Belgium and assisted the winning goal in the final to lift the World Cup as the captain of Argentina.
