MARADONA is gone, but his legend lives on.
The world-renowned Argentine footballer died at the age of 60, two weeks after brain surgery.
Three days of national mourning have begun in Argentina after Maradona died on November 25, 2020.
Diego Armando Maradona had more talent than almost any other footballer in history. His cult status in Argentina and around the world went beyond the pitch and brought him global fame.
Former Argentina team-mate Ossie Ardiles said “To be Diego Maradona was incredibly beautifulโฆ but it was not easy at all. Everybody wanted to be with him, everybody wanted a piece of him, so it was incredibly difficult.”
Throughout his career, Maradona gave us some of the best sporting moments on the football field.
Maradona presented two of his most famous goals in football history in the Argentina Vs England match at Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City, where Argentina won the game 2โ1, and went on to win the 1986 World Cup with a victory over West Germany in the final match.
His career highlights include the magnificent “Hand of God” which described a goal he scored after 51 minutes in the game, at the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup on 22 June 1986.
His second goal, four minutes later, saw him dribbling past five England players, Beardsley, Reid, Butcher, Fenwick, Butcher (again), and finally goalkeeper Peter Shilton, which became known as the “Goal of the Century.”
Maradona’s last competitive game of football was at the USA 1994 World Cup.
EARLY DAYS
Argentina’s love affair with their flawed phenomenon Maradona is because he was born in the barrios.
Maradona rose from the poverty of Buenos Aires slums to play for the team which represented every poor boy’s dream — Boca Juniors, and then to illuminate Argentina’s World Cup exploits to become a symbol of hope for the people.
With an unlikely body, short, squat, bowlegged, and low center of gravity — all his mercurial gifts are found.
Maradona had remarkable dexterity on the turn and acceleration with the ball. It was that capacity that allowed him to produce magical skills at an electrifying pace around the goal which sets him apart from other football greats like Zidane, Ronaldo, Cruyff, Platini.
He was larger than life and his sudden demise has saddened us all.
RIP Maradona.
