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Diego Armando Maradona turns 60

The Argentine superstar, born on 30 October 1960 in Lanús, is a member of the Italian Football Hall of Fame

Friday, October 30, 2020

Diego Armando Maradona turns 60

One of the greatest football players of all time turns 60 today. A legend worshipped by fans in Argentina, whom he enthralled in the 1986 World Cup, and beloved by those of Napoli, the city in which Diego Armando Maradona left an indelible mark and not only for the trophies he won.

In fact, trophies alone are not enough to encapsulate his sheer class and unlimited talent. His left foot was pure poetry; he enchanted and delighted.

The story of Maradona began at Argentinos Juniors, where he shone even as a boy. Then he moved to Boca Juniors, the club with which he would actually end his career in 1997. With Boca, he won his first-ever national title, the Primera División, in 1981. He spent one year with the Buenos Aires club before making his move to Europe, to Barcelona. In 1983, he won the Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga and Supercopa Española with the Blaugrana.

Then, in 1984, came his move to Napoli, which Maradona took to levels never seen before. Two Scudetti, one Coppa Italia, one Supercoppa Italiana and one UEFA Cup: this was the trophy haul that caused the fans all over the city to fall in love.

Before he left Italy in 1991, Maradona made 259 appearances for the Partenopei, scoring 115 goals. It was an era in which he crossed paths with true legends of the game, of the calibre of Platini, Rummenigge, Mancini, Vialli, Van Basten, Maldini, to name but a few.

The mark left on football by Maradona opened the doors for his entry into the Italian Football Hall of Fame, of which he has been a member since 2014 - in the Foreign Player category. He was inaugurated in a ceremony at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in January 2017. That day, he said he would have liked to have played alongside Totti, Baggio, Del Piero, Antognoni: high praise indeed from a player with such boundless class, which very few have ever emulated.