Maradona remembered - one year on: Argentina and Napoli legend's greatest goals

Along
the
way,
the
footballing
great
–
who
died
at
the
age
of
60
on
November
25,
2020
–
scored
some
of
the
greatest
goals
the
game
has
ever
seen.

No
matter
the
occasion,
or
indeed
the
opponent,
Maradona
was
often
unplayable
–
as
can
be
seen
from
our
selection
of
his
five
greatest
ever
goals.

Argentina
v
England
(June
22,
1986)

Hailed
by
many
as
the
greatest
goal
of
all
time,
Maradona
picked
up
the
ball
inside
his
own
half
and
dribbled
past
four
England
players
before
calmly
rounding
Peter
Shilton.

The
moment
of
magic
arrived
four
minutes
after
the
notorious
‘Hand
of
God’ goal
and
helped
Argentina
into
the
semi-finals
of
the
1986
World
Cup,
a
tournament
which
they
went
on
to
win.

Peter
Reid,
one
of
the
England
players
that
Maradona
sauntered
past,
described
the
mesmerising
second
goal
as
an
example
of
“an
artist
at
work,
at
the
best
of
his
ability”.

Argentina
v
Belgium
(June
25,
1986)

The
goal
scored
by
Maradona
three
days
later,
this
time
in
the
semi-finals,
was
not
too
dissimilar
in
that
he
had
four
opposition
players
between
himself
and
the
goal.

He
slalomed
between
two
of
them,
jinked
past
another
–
in
the
process
taking
out
a
fourth
–
and
fired
past
Jean-Marie
Pfaff
for
his
second
goal
of
the
contest.

Diego
Maradona
at
the
1986

#WorldCup:
invincible
🇦🇷🙌

pic.twitter.com/b767xKRG85

—
FIFA
World
Cup
(@FIFAWorldCup)

March
22,
2018

Napoli
v
Juventus
(November
3,
1985)

Napoli
ended
their
12-year
wait
for
a
league
victory
over
rivals
Juventus
thanks
to
Maradona’s
brilliance
of
a
different
kind.
If
the
previous
goals
were
all
about
neat
footwork
and
clinical
finishing,
this
was
more
to
do
with
sheer
audacity.

A
large
wall,
set
five
metres
from
the
ball,
was
not
enough
to
stop
the
Argentine
maestro
delicately
lifting
the
indirect
free-kick,
rolled
short
into
his
path,
into
the
one
spot
Stefano
Tacconi
could
not
reach.

pic.twitter.com/97sMSgukHA

—
JuventusFC
(@juventusfc)

November
25,
2020

Napoli
v
Hellas
Verona
(October
20,
1985)

This
one
was
all
about
the
technique
–
and
the
confidence
to
even
think
about
taking
it
on.
Maradona
brought
down
the
ball
with
his
first
touch,
turned
and
sent
a
long-range
drive
flying
over
Giuliano
Giuliani
from
a
good
40
yards
out.

What
made
it
all
the
more
special
is
that
this
strike
came
in
a
5-0
thrashing
of
Hellas
Verona,
who
were
the
reigning
Serie
A
champions
at
the
time.

Boca
Juniors
v
River
Plate
(April
10,
1981)

Maradona
spent
a
season
with
Boca
Juniors
before
arriving
in
Europe,
and
it
soon
became
clear
what
a
talent
he
would
become.

His
first
spell
at
the
club
may
have
been
short,
but
he
left
behind
plenty
of
memories,
including
a
famous
goal
against
bitter
rivals
River
Plate.
Intricate
footwork
in
the
penalty
area
left
River
helplessly
bamboozled
before
Maradona
converted
from
close
range.