CELEBRITY
BBC RECALLS MARADONA’S LAST GAME…IT WAS AGAINST NIGERIA

One of the most famous – and most important – maxims in theatre is to always leave the crowd wanting more.
And as one of the most theatrical footballers to have played international football, Diego Maradona certainly did that – albeit not through choice.
That Maradona left the World Cup at USA ’94 after failing a drugs test is well-remembered – allied, albeit mistakenly, to his wide-eyed celebration having scored against Greece in a group game.
Popular memory joins the drugs test with that celebration and thinks they were the same match. But in actual fact, it was after Argentina’s next game, against Nigeria in Boston, that Maradona failed his test.
And it was a game in which he had shown he was still at the absolute peak of his powers – at least in a blue-and-white shirt. The unanswered question, of course, is how much of that was down to drugs.
The subtle trick
Although his club career had begun to peter out – he had spent a season ineffectively at Sevilla in 1992/93 before heading back to Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina – Maradona had always been able to raise his game for his national team.
And against Nigeria in Group D on 25 June 1994, he was so good there was talk of him inspiring them to their third successive World Cup final.
First, however, there was a big shock to deal with: Nigeria had gone ahead after just eight minutes.
It was through a fast break that was absolutely typical of the Super Eagles at the time.
Aptly, Rashidi Yekini showed Maradona-esque skill to dummy his way through two Argentina midfielders at once before setting up Samson Siasia. Siasia had all the time in the world to chip Luis Islas; the Argentina goalkeeper was so far out of his goal he had crossed an international date line.
Briefly, it looked like it could be the second time in two World Cups that Argentina had been bested by African opposition, after their 1-0 defeat to Cameroon that opened Italia ’90 – still one of the greatest shocks in the history of the tournament.
But it was not to be. And, typically, that was mostly down to Maradona.
The equaliser especially featured an under-remembered trick so subtle, so deft, it showed the very apex of what Maradona was about.
On 21 minutes, Argentina had won a free-kick around 25 metres from goal – a dangerous position, but not undefendable.
As Nigeria set up their wall, both Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta – himself already proving to be one of the greatest strikers in Serie A, and therefore Europe, at the time – stood at equal distance from the ball; Batistuta to the left, Maradona to the right.
Both were renowned dead-ball specialists, so the Nigeria wall was wary. Both had given themselves plenty of run-up, indicating a powerful shot was due.
As the referee’s whistle blew, it was Maradona who moved first. Expecting the ball to come flying in via Maradona’s left foot, the Nigeria wall moved right.
But instead, Maradona deftly, gracefully – with the precision of a ballerina landing on the tip of their toes – flicked the ball backwards, to the exact blade of grass Batistuta was running towards.
His dummy had done its work. Batistuta’s shot thundered in through the empty space from where Nigeria’s wall had shifted.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper Peter Rufai did well to get to down to it, but he only palmed it to the feet of Claudio Caniggia, who smashed it in.
‘Freedom of Massachusetts’
Seven minutes later, Argentina went ahead – again set up by a Maradona free kick.
If the first one had been all about skill, the second was all about cunning.
Maradona had the ball in midfield and almost idly played it towards Caniggia – but, before the striker could do anything with it, the referee signalled for a free-kick back where Maradona had passed from.
Maradona theatrically grabbed the ball, put it down, held up his hands. He made a gesture waving all his fingers in the air. To all the world – and certainly to all the Nigeria players – it looked like he was planning something extravagant that they would need to prepare for.
But instead he suddenly dinked the ball forward to where Caniggia had been waiting, furiously yelling “Diego! Diego!”
The Nigeria defence was caught completely cold. They’d been expecting a long delay while Maradona thought out a way through their defences – but instead he and Caniggia, who gleefully stroked home his second, had just walked through the front door.
“Caniggia was given the freedom of Massachusetts there” said John Motson on BBC commentary. He was right, but it was Maradona who had handed him the keys to the state.
No way back
Though the game would continue to flow for most of the match, and be one of the most entertaining of the entire tournament, there were no more goals.
And – though no-one knew it at the time – there would be no more for Maradona at all in an Argentina shirt.
Shortly afterwards, news came through that he had tested positive for drugs use in the Nigeria match.
But it was his reaction to scoring in the previous match against Greece – wide-eyed, staring right down the barrel of the touchline camera – that suddenly defined him. Yes of course he was on something, TV viewers said – he just looked like it. He had been banned for cocaine use before.
Without their inspirational captain, the team that had reached the last two finals of the World Cup went out to Romania in the last 16.
Would Maradona have been so good against Nigeria if he had not taken ephedrine? It’s impossible to know. It did not materially affect the World Cup, as other results meant Nigeria topped the group anyway.
Though Maradona later contested the drug test, saying it had been caused by a difference in ingredients between a brand of drink in Argentina and the US, it was to no avail.
He was out of the blue-and-white stripes, and would not be back.
-BBC
CELEBRITY
Ronaldo becomes football’s first billionaire, says report

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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CELEBRITY
Former England captain, David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman awarded knighthoods

Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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CELEBRITY
Diego Maradona trial judge stands down amid scandal

One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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