By Aiyeku Timothy
The football world was thrown into mourning on Wednesday following the demise of Diego Maradona at the age of 60.
Maradona had battled drug problems and health complications leading to surgery for a subdural hematoma — more commonly known as a blood clot on the brain.
His greatest mark as one of the best footballers of all time was witnessed with the Argentine national team and Napoli.
In four World Cups tournaments, he was champion once, clinching two Serie A titles with a bottom-rung team like Napoli.
Some moments cannot be forgotten about one of the world’s greatest ever in the game of football. Here are five.
1 – ‘Hand of God‘
It will be incomplete to look back at Maradona’s life without mentioning the infamous ‘The hand of God’ as it is commonly referred to. Maradona beat England’s Peter Shilton to the punch at the 1986 World Cup and jabbed the ball into the back of the net.
The round leather game is yet to witness an unsportsmanlike, controversial, completely and utterly brilliant moments after that day. It’s been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube, which is testament to the fact that a moment that happened 34 years ago will be forever engrained into football folklore.
2 – An unspeakable gun moment with reporters
Reports claim Maradona opened fire on reporters outside his house in the build-up to the 1994 World Cup. He held the opinion that they were invading his privacy and greeted them with an air rifle.
Some of the reporters were said to have picked up minor injuries. The incident might not be remembered by many but it is one of those moments of ‘pure ridiculousness’ Maradona displayed.
3 – World record move to Napoli
In 1984, Maradona moved to Italian Serie A outfit Napoli for a then world-record $7.5 million contract. Maradona helped underdogs Napoli to the Italian title twice – creating a whole lot of unmatched records for himself.
4 – Debut at 15
The genius footballer was discovered in street kickabouts by the scout for first division club Argentinos Juniors and made his league debut at 15.
At 17 the prodigy just missed inclusion in Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-winning squad at home.
5 – Failed drug test
Is it possible to write about the football legend without recalling the controversies that trailed his career? Diego Maradona failed a drug test twice in his career.
In 1994, Maradona had tested positive for a banned drug, ephedrine with Argentina being one of the strongest team in the World Cup that year.
Known to be 33, the then Argentine captain was subjected to a random drug test after Argentina’s 2-1 victory over Nigeria on Saturday in Foxboro, Mass and he tested positive. Two samples are taken at the random testing. If the first one proves positive, the second is analyzed to make sure there has been no mistake.
In 1997, Maradona failed a drug test for the third time in six years.
