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Top 5 Diego Maradona’s career-defining moments in his life

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With his passing still fresh on everyone’s mind, it’s time to take a look at Diego Maradona’s Top 5 career-defining moments throughout his life. 

Diego Maradona’s passing took the world by storm on this Wednesday that no football fan will ever forget, his career was truly brilliant. During his run as a footballer, the Argentina legend was arguably the most talented baller on planet earth. For the people from his own country, he is still considered the best to ever do it. As a way to pay homage to his legacy, it’s time to take a look at the Top 5 career-defining moments of this legendary player. 

5.- That legendary nutmeg on his debut.

On the day of his debut for Argentinos Juniors against Talleres de Cordoba, manager Juan Carlos Montes gave a 15-year-old Maradona his debut. On the second time touching the ball, he nutmegged defender Juan Domingo Cabrera.

This was a story with no evidence as that football match wasn’t televised. However, the picture of the exact moment was discovered within “El Grafico” magazine’s archives in 2001. The photo was taken by Humberto Esperanza. 

4.- Getting banned from the FIFA World Cup. 

This has to be Diego Maradona’s darkest moment as a footballer and it happened with his national team. During the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the legendary player was already leading a controversial lifestyle. He kept claiming he was framed for a false positive antidoping test until the day he died.

However, the known evidence suggests FIFA banned him from the tournament after finding the undisputed truth. After a one-year suspension, Maradona made his return but things were never the same after that. 

3.- Winning the 1979 Under-20 World Cup. 

This tournament was the first international exposure Diego Maradona had as a football professional. Manager Cesar Luis Menotti decided to not call him for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina a year before traveling to Japan with the Under-20 squad.

His plan was to win the tournament by a landslide with Maradona as his best player. After this competition and Diego’s stellar performance, he became a renowned superstar around the globe. 

2.- Becoming Italian football’s greatest legend. 

After a failed attempt to impress Europe at FC Barcelona, Diego Maradona made a career decision that left everybody puzzled. He decided to play at SSC Napoli, one of the modest clubs during the ‘80s decade. Little did we know that he would transform this club into one of the most competitive in the world at the time. Maradona conquered the South of Italy with an unforgettable spell filled with trophies at the club. San Paolo became a football temple when he stepped on it. 

1.- The best goal of the 20th Century. 

Diego Maradona’s greatest achievement is his 1986 World Cup performance, by far. However, the goal that defined him as one of the all-time greats came while he was facing England. The geopolitical context in which this match took place simply added more spice to the whole situation.

Maradona was the one who came out on top after scoring a goal with his hand and the one solo goal that is considered the greatest of the 20th Century. Messi has been widely compared to Diego for scoring a similar goal in 2007, but there is nothing like the original. The stakes, the tournament, the venue. Everything was legendary about this moment in Diego’s career.

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