Diego Armando Maradona passed away yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest at the age of 60. The incident happened less than two weeks after he was discharged from a hospital due to surgery required to treat a brain clot.
The legendary player is most fondly remembered for the 1986 World Cup victory and scoring two iconic goals against England in the Quarter Finals of the victorious campaign. The first of which, was the infamous “Hand of God” goal. The other was the 60 metre dribble from his own half that FIFA voted the goal of the century in 2002.
Maradona played for Barcelona for two years after moving to the club from Boca Juniors for a then-record fee of £5 million. His most memorable club tenure was with Napoli, whom he joined for another world record fee of £6.9 million.
The last to wear the number 10 shirt at Napoli, El Pibe de Oro went on to become the highest scorer for Napoli during his tenure in Italy with 115 goals for the club. Though his record has since been broken by Hamsik and Dries Mertens, Maradona remains a figure respected unparalleled in the city.
To honour the late great Maradona’s memory, Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis has suggested that Napoli’s home stadium, Stadio San Paolo, could be renamed after their former player, Diego Maradona. He has now confirmed the rename will be done..
Similar gestures have been carried through by clubs to honour some of their greatest players. Some of the most popular examples are Real Madrid (Santiago Bernabeu) and Ajax (Johan Cruyff).
The Argentinian won many accolades during his seven-year spell at Naples. Most notably winning the UEFA Cup in 1988/89, Maradona also won the Serie A title, the Italian Cup, as well as the Super Cup with the Partenopei.
While Italy has some laws in place for renaming buildings after people who have only recently passed away, it sounds extremely likely that the club will go through with the renaming in honour of the legend of the game.
