News about Diego Maradona

The World Cup winning star died aged 60 at his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 25, 2020 after suffering a fatal heart attack in the aftermath of major brain surgery. Argentina went into three days of mourning in which his body was lying in state at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. In April last year it was announced that eight doctors and nurses would go on trial for the alleged crime of simple homicide with eventual intent over how they cared for Maradona in his final hours. They face 25 years in jail if convicted.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DOMINIC KING: The numbers and anecdotes that will boggle your mind will arrive in due course but first Sir Anthony McCoy wants to explain his apprehension. A landmark birthday is approaching - he'll be 50 next Saturday - and saying the number out loud leads to a grimace. In his head, he feels no different to the young man from Moneyglass in County Antrim who arrived on these shores aged 20 in August 1994, driving "my little Peugeot 205" into Toby Balding's yard burning with dreams and desire. McCoy could control almost everything in his life, from championship races to the kind of pain that would make most of us faint, but not the ageing process. Nor will he be able to shape events at the Tottenham Stadium this afternoon, something that will leave this Arsenal devotee tormented.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: The Aston Villa goalkeeper is the biggest wind-up merchant in world football and is disliked in France in much the same way Maradona was in England after his 'Hand of God' goal knocked Sir Bobby Robson's team out of the 1986 World Cup. Martinez is not as good as Maradona - who is? - but letting him join Villa for just £16million in 2020 has to be one of the daftest pieces of transfer business Arsenal have conducted this century.

Mick Fitzgerald has revealed how he was forced to dodge his fiancée after infamously telling Des Lynam winning the 1996 Grand National was 'better than sex'. The Irish jockey rode Rough Quest to victory at Aintree but then spent the celebrations avoiding wife-to-be Jane after he said live on the BBC: 'After that, Des, even sex is an anti-climax!' Fitzgerald, now a television racing pundit, joked even Diego Maradona 'didn't have the moves I had when it came to swerving her'.

'The Duran family is delighted to tell people that the surgery in our champion, a pacemaker implant, was a success,' his family posted on Instagram on Monday.' Because of artery blockage, one of his sons, Robin Duran, said his father needed the pacemaker because his heartbeats were "a little erratic."

CHRIS WHEELER: Old Trafford has seen some classic games in recent times, and Manchester United's dramatic FA Cup quarter-final victory over Liverpool on Sunday was up there with the best of them. United's cameback to defeat their bitter rivals 4-3, with a 121st-minute goal from Amad Diallo, who was running late in normal time and again in extra-time. I was screaming and I couldn't hear my voice, so you get a sense of what the noise was like for us on the pitch,' said captain Bruno Fernandes afterwards.'

Roberto Duran, the boxing legend, has had a heart disease and is undergoing medical attention, according to his family, who revealed it on Saturday. Duran, a champion in four different weight classes, suffered from an atrioventricular blockade,' his family said in a tweet post on Duran's Instagram page. The statement continued, 'We are waiting for results so we can give you more details on his health.' "We thank our relatives, acquaintances, and all of his supporters who are praying for him." The 72-year-old Duran was being treated in a hospital in his native Panama, according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, who wrote on social media. 'His family is joined by the world in praise for his quick and prompt recovery, he is a champion and will win this war,' Sulaiman said in the post on X.

His passion for the young woman may have barred the Roman Catholic Church of Americas' first king. In his latest autobiography, titled Life: A History, which will be published next week, he makes the assertion. Diego Maradona, Argentina's infamous "hand of god" goal against England in the Quarter Finals helped his team lift the trophy in 1986. 'So, which is the guilty hand?' says the 87-year-old football enthusiast, who was visiting the Vatican for the first time.' He begins the novel mentioning that he first noticed the girl he would be infatuated with at his uncle's wedding.

The two teams are due to meet in the Champions League's last 16 on Wednesday evening, the first time they will meet together since February 2022, when the Spanish side defeated 5-3 aggregate champions in the Europa League. Maradona is widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential players of all time, and he has appeared on both directions during a long playing career. Following his death in 2020, he was honoured with a statue at the ground named after him, with Napoli erecting the golden model in 2022 following the renaming of their ground.

The opening game of the 2026 World Cup will be held in Mexico City on June 11. On Sunday, more information about the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, were announced. Mexico was given the opportunity to host the tournament's curtain raiser with their historic national stadium as the backdrop.

The Africa Cup of Nations is unquestionably one of the most exciting international football tournaments. There aren't many other sports where you can get 40-yard free-kick screamers, Hand Of God attempts, and players with injuries trying to do a back-flip in preparation all mixed into one. AFCON has already provided us with so many talking points; we're only just passed the group stages and we've had unbelievable giant-killings and no fewer than six managerial casualties - and one of which with their side still in the running!

Ronaldo has selected who he thinks the eight greatest players of all time are. Ronaldo Nazario, 47, had a glittering career from 1993 to 2011, playing for Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, and AC Milan, while still scoring 62 times in 98 games for Brazil. The former footballer of his generation is one of the most popular footballers of his time, and he has since attempted to play football for Real Valladolid in Spain and his boyhood Brazilian team Cruzeiro.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: Forget about defending the Premier League title this season or playing in the Champions League. If Ivan Toney wants to achieve those goals, he could start by assisting Brentford in keeping the Brentford stock market alive. Toney is the embodiment of Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, and Jimmy Greaves, according to some of the sarcastic observations of the past fortnight. Toney demonstrated exactly what he is against Nottingham Forest: a highly versatile Premier League forward with strong England aspirations.

JOE BERNSTEIN: When Dominic Solanke first stepped into the Liverpool dressing room in 2017, it was a month after he had inspired England to win the Under-20s World Cup. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the final, but Solanke was named Player of the Tournament, an honor whose previous winners included Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. He was the outstanding prospect of his generation, with a potent combination of strength, speed, and technique, excelling as a centre-forward or second striker to Gareth Southgate and the rest of the FA.

The 2026 World Cup final is scheduled to be hosted at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, with FIFA selecting the venue ahead of the MetLife Stadium in New York. FIFA will announce the change later this week, according to The Sun, and soccer's governing body is likely to base itself in Texas for the 2026 tournament.

During a recent podcast episode, Micah Richards recalled one of his best career aspirations with a parody. The former Manchester City defender recalled his best effort on the Rest Is Football podcast, alongside Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, where his co-hosts were in stitches with his tale. Richards' characterization of the attempt: "I get the ball, but breaking the line." So, I've got a striker in front of me... 'I invented the line breaking, as they say it's like stepping out.'

A TikTok actress who is the niece of one of Naples' most 'bloodthirsty' Mafia clans has scented her late father. Nunzia Giuliano has released the fragrance, 'O Li', after Carmine 'The Lion' Giuliano,' by telling followers that buying it would be the most fitting way to respect the mafioso. The perfume went out quickly. The influential Giuliano family, headquartered in Forcella, has been active in Naples for four decades, beginning as cigarette smugglers before progressing to drug trafficking. During Carmine and his brothers' time in Napoli in the 1980s, the city's most influential executives, and perhaps befriended Diego Maradona (bottom left), who notably befriended him. Nunzia was born to Carmine and Amalia Stolder, the niece of another Neapolitan clan chief (top left).

Lionel Messi's legendary No 10 Argentina jersey will be retired 'for life,' after he hangs up his boots, according to the country's FA President. Messi, who has been rated by many as the best soccer player in history, brought the cherry on top of his stellar career last year when he helped Argentina end its 35-year wait for a World Cup out in Qatar. With 106 goals in his 180 caps, the Inter Miami legend has now inspired his country to a potential big name, solidifying his place as an all-time Argentinian legend alongside the great Diego Maradona.

Peter Shilton, 74, is England's most captained male player with 125 games, competing for the national team for 20 years and three successive World Cups, 1982, 1986, and 1990. While serving in the role, Diego Maradona's legendary 'hand of God' victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, effectively ending England's participation in the tournament. However, Mr Shilton isn't just known for his success in target, he has bravely shared his 'all-consuming' gambling addiction of 45 years, in which he lost £800,000 to Betfair alone.

The run-up to Christmas can be a nightmare for women, with pubs full of pissed men armed with flaccid sprigs of mistleto

The new club president has confirmed that no one of Brazil's Santos team will wear the number 10 jersey as long as the team competes in the country's second division. Marcelo Teixeira, who was elected president of Santos on Saturday, said he made the decision in honor of Pele, the club's best player who died in 2022 due to colon cancer. We will not play with the number 10 shirt until Santos is back in Serie A, which is its highest level,' said Teixeira, Santos' president on two previous occasions, 'Until Santos is back in Serie A, which is its highest level.'

INTERVIEW BY ADAM SHERGOLD: Advent calendars are being released and Christmas trees are decorated, but Port Vale is in the midst of being a League One team in all three Cup tournaments, but they are still alive. This season, Andy Crosby's Valiants have been knocking out kings, and their December schedule has given their followers plenty of holiday cheer. They will face Bolton Wanderers in the second round of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday this week. After losing 1-1 on the weekend in a FA Cup second round replay, Stevenage will meet the victors in Maidstone United, who will be on a trip to non-league Maidstone United. Vale host Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, but it's most exciting, seven days after that. The team is making strides forward and is expected to meet a Premier League team at Wembley Stadium.

PETE JENSON: Terry Venables' photograph being carried shoulder high at Camp Nou after Barcelona's 1986 European Cup final was one of the Catalan team's signature images for two main reasons. Firstly, it captures one of the most thrilling games ever played at the old stadium, when Barcelona overcame a 3-0 first leg loss to triumph the semi-finals, 3-0 on the night and 5-4 on penalties. And secondly, because Josep Guardiola, the England manager, is in firing, looking up admirably at the England boss, clapping his hands above his head, his wide eyes, and a huge smile were the best representation of the city's night.

PETE JENSON: This week, there was nostalgia and romance in Naples. Fabio Cannavaro has acquired the club's old training ground and plans to convert the wasteland, which has been disused for 20 years, into a center of excellence for young Napoli players. Cannavaro was a youth student at the Centro Paradiso in the 1980s - Diego Maradona was the first team's ace - there's now a mural of the Argentine with his then teenage daughter Dalma on one of the crumbling walls. 'I want to restore it to its youthful look for the young people of the neighborhood,' Cannavaro said. 'The goals I had when I first started playing here were beyond what I had expected.' I used to go to training on the Vespa that the woman who is now my wife lent to me, and then I switched to a Fiat Uno. "I was already living the dream." Just as nostalgic, but nowhere near as romantic has been the club's decision last week to fire former Watford boss Walter Mazzarri, who ruled Napoli from 2009 to 2013.