October 30 – The End of El Diego | On This Football Day

October 30 – The End of El Diego

HE was the greatest footballer of his generation and perhaps of all time, but all good things have to come to an end. Today in 1997 Diego Armando Maradona hung up his boots, bringing his explosive career to a close on his 37th birthday.

There are few stories in the history of football that measure up to that of Maradona. Born in the shantytown of Villa Fiorito on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the diminutive Boca Juniors fan embarked on a career that saw some the greatest goals ever scored and countless honours bestowed upon him. And that was only the half of it.

For a man who played with such passion and energy on the football pitch it is not surprising that off the pitch he lived a life that can only be described as ‘incident packed.’ Everyone’s got their favourite Maradona moment. There’s the time he shot his rifle at reporters, his post-retirement weight gain and loss or his admiration of Fidel Castro. He battled a cocaine addiction throughout most of his career and never was this more evident than when he scored for Argentina in the 1994 World Cup and headed straight for a TV camera and ranted at it like a deranged extra from Trainspotting.

On the pitch his most famous moment was single-handidly guiding Argentina to the 1986 World Cup, where his brace against England told you more about the man than words ever could. He won titles for Barcelona, Napoli and his beloved Boca Juniors.

He’s had such an impact on football in his homeland that every promising young Argetinian now has to live up to the title of the ‘new Maradona.’ Countless players have failed to live up to the hype, but Leo Messi has recently been giving it a hell of a go at Maradona’s old stomping ground in Barcelona. One of the most recent of these, Athletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero is rumoured to be dating his daughter. For England’s World Cup chances in 2034 let’s hope that Diego doesn’t become a granddad anytime soon.

Maradona bowed out just the way he wanted to, as he lead Boca to a 2-1 victory over their rivals River Plate. If anyone has seen him rant about how much he dislikes Boca’s cross-town rivals you’ll know he reitred a happy man. There’s action from La Bombonera below and come back tomorrow for a Toffeeman who was feeling the pressure.