Happy Birthday Maradona: One date could hardly be avoided by anyone with even a slight interest in football. Newspapers and publications would have honored him, and his greatest skills, greatest aspirations, and most memorable moments from his career were all over television and, most importantly, online social networks.
Today, October 30, he would have turned 65. Somewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, a crazy birthday celebration would have taken place. He would have been the most popular person on social media, at least for a few hours. It wouldn’t have mattered, though, because Diego Armando Maradona is no longer with us. Five years ago, we lost the most valuable piece of soccer. However, let’s take a moment to remember the late Diego and his well-known sayings.
- To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world.
- I made mistakes, and I paid for them. But the ball is still pure
- I am Maradona, who makes goals, who makes mistakes. I can take it all, I have shoulders big enough to fight with everybody.
- You can say a lot of things about me, but you can never say I don’t take risks.
- When I wear the national team shirt, its sole contact with my skin makes it stand on an end.
- I am black or white; I’ll never be grey in my life.
- Even if there was a hand, it was the hand of God.
- The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona.
- If I could apologize and go back and change history I would do. But the goal is still a goal, Argentina became world champions, and I was the best player in the world.
- There would be no debate about who was the best footballer the world had ever seen – me or Pele. Everyone would say me.
The one match in which he achieved immortality—the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and England in Mexico—will always be included in the hall of fame. In his team’s 2-1 victory, Maradona scored two goals: the renowned ‘Hand of God’ goal and, less than five minutes later, the iconic halfway line dribble that won him the World Cup goal of the century award in 2002. On November 25, 2020, the legendary number 10 passed away from a heart attack.
