5 Iconic Moments of Diego Maradona in Photos

On Wednesday, November 25, one of the greatest footballers in the history of the sport passed away at the age of 60.

“Come out and flick the ball between someone's legs” — that is exactly what Juan Carlos Montes said to Maradona on October 20, 1976. At 15 years and 355 days old, the curly-haired kid making his debut in the Argentine Primera División did not flinch upon hearing this, and a couple of minutes after coming onto the pitch he flicked the ball between the legs of Talleres player Juan Domingo Cabrera. Diego would perform this technical trick many more times over his career, but this was the first at the professional level. Only years later did the popular Argentine magazine El Grafico realize they had such a significant picture of the future 'golden boy' of Argentina.

75,000. That is how many Napoli fans came to the local San Paolo stadium in early July 1984 to welcome the star newcomer, bought from Barcelona for a record-at-the-time 10.5 million dollars. Things had not gone well for Maradona in Spain, but the Argentine fully lived up to the expectations of the Neapolitan club's fans — his name is linked with the greatest successes in Napoli's history, including league titles in the 1986/87 and 1989/90 seasons, as well as the UEFA Cup win.

After the first half of the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and England, the scoreboard showed nothing but zeros. But after the break Maradona turned everything upside down. In the 51st minute, reacting to a lucky rebound off England midfielder Steve Hodge, Maradona compensated for his lack of height with a hand raised above his head; after it touched the ball, it flew into the goal past Peter Shilton.

Unfair? Perhaps. But four minutes later the Argentine number 10 single-handedly beat half of the English team and, in addition to the 'Hand of God', added the 'Goal of the Century'.

Lionel Messi is already at the twilight of his career, and his dream of achieving success at the World Cup with the Argentina national team remains unattainable for him. Maradona, whom Messi could not help but look up to, reached that summit in the very same 1986 year. In the final against West Germany, Maradona, although he did not score, made the decisive assist to Jorge Burruchaga and was named the tournament's best player. And along the way he became a national hero in Argentina.

On April 26, 1991, dozens of journalists in Buenos Aires looked at Maradona not as a savior but as a lawbreaker. The day before, the Italian federation had suspended Diego from football for cocaine use, and his sins were not forgiven at home either, where on the morning after his flight home he was arrested for possession and distribution. After paying bail, receiving a suspended prison sentence and serving a 15-month ban, Maradona would still return to football and even play at the 1994 World Cup, but his brilliant career truly ended at that moment.