Last week one of the best players in the history of football, Diego Maradona died because of a heart attack at the age of 60. He was not only a great player but he had a historical impact and left a mark on the players of today. Many players and media members shared their stories and respects to him this week.
Maradona The Player
Maradona will best be known for his greatness at Argentina and Napoli. He was masterful in the 1986 World Cup. Everyone remembers his game against England with two iconic goals, the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century.
The Hand of God was a clear handball but he got away with it. But his second goal is the greatest goal in World Cup history he juked six English players and scored a remarkable solo goal. His skills with the ball were incredible. Gary Lineker said it best he never saw anyone with such a beautiful affection for the game.
Later in the World Cup, he set up his teammates to lead Argentina to a 3-2 win over West Germany in the World Cup Final. The best World Cup performance in World Cup history he carried Argentina all the way to the illustrious trophy.
Napoli
He won two Serie A titles with Napoli. Maradona put Napoli on the map. He even guaranteed he would lead Napoli to a Serie A title. He scored 81 goals for the club. With all the success he had with Napoli that led to Italian fans rooting for him even when he played for Argentina. In the 1990 World Cup, Italian fans rooted for Argentina even when they played Italy because of Maradona. That just depicts how much admiration they had for Maradona.
Tributes From Around The World
Players offered their condolences from across the globe and we got to see how Maradona influenced them and the impact he had on the game. Lionel Messi led a heartfelt tribute after he scored a goal against Osasuna. He honoured him by wearing a Newells Old Boys shirt. This was the perfect tribute when Messi was young he attended a game Maradona played for Newells and posted on Instagram paying homage to the Argentinian legend and captioning ‘Maradona is Eternal.’
There were moments of silence in all the leagues to pay respect towards Maradona. The first game for Napoli after he passed away all the players wore 10 Maradona jerseys. Napoli will rename their stadium in honour of him.
Didier Drogba credited his love for the game to Maradona and the first football shirt was a Maradona jersey. Some players wished they shared the pitch with Maradona. Manchester United star Marcus Rashford was one of those players who wished that. Even other players from other sports admired him. Kobe Bryant said he loved Maradona and he was his idol. Sadly Bryant and Maradona both passed away this year. Most players offered their condolences on social media like Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Kylian Mbappe said how he impacted the game and how great he was.
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