CELEBRITY
Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt to be sold at auction
The Argentina shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup is to be auctioned.
According to a BBC report, the iconic blue away shirt, currently owned by former England midfielder Steve Hodge, is expected to fetch more than £4m.
Maradona also scored one of greatest World Cup goals in that game on the way to winning the tournament.
After Maradona died in November 2020, Hodge said the shirt was not for sale.
In December that year Hodge said he had “people knocking on my door non-stop”, and that reports he was looking to sell the shirt were false. “I find it disrespectful and totally wrong,” he added at the time. “It’s not for sale. I am not trying to sell it.”
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Midfielder Hodge, 59, who appeared in two World Cups for England and won 24 caps, has been in possession of the shirt since swapping it with Maradona in the tunnel after the 1986 quarter-final which Argentina won 2-1.
Hodge loaned the shirt to the National Football Museum, where it has been for housed for 20 years, but it will now be auctioned at Sotheby’s in London with bidding open from April 20 to May 4.
The current record price for a shirt worn during a game is held by New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth’s baseball jersey, which sold for $5.6m (£4.4m) in 2019.
Maradona is widely considered one of the greatest ever footballers, playing a hugely significant role in Argentina’s World Cup win at Mexico ’86.
He played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Sevilla and Newell’s Old Boys in a glittering club career, but it was at Napoli between 1984 and 1991 that he cemented his reputation as the world’s best player of his generation.
He captained them to their first ever Italian Serie A title in 1986-87, and followed it with a second in 1989-90, as well as winning the Uefa Cup, Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup with the club.
ADWAIDH RAJAN, BBC
He’s better known as a Premier League and international footballer, but Alex Iwobi wants his music – as well as his on-pitch exploits – to inspire young people.
After starting his rap career earlier this year, the Fulham and Nigeria midfielder has released his second single, titled What’s Luv?.
Iwobi’s debut offering was Don’t Shoot in June, which has been streamed almost 60,000 times on Spotify.
The 28-year-old, who goes by the name ’17’, collaborated with his former Arsenal team-mate Chuba Akpom (performing as Skoli) and former England youth international Medy Elito (Don-EE) for his first release.
Iwobi’s debut song was aimed at deterring youngsters from street violence, while his latest release is a “celebration of his African roots”.
“Growing up in an area of London that is challenging for some people, I know how hard it can be and I’m grateful to have a platform to try and make a difference,” Iwobi said.
“I hope that my music is another way of proving that young people do not have to feel they have to fit in just one box. I want them to be encouraged to achieve their dreams, to put their focus into positive things.”
Iwobi has started all nine Premier League matches for Marco Silva’s Fulham this season and scored his second goal of the campaign in a 1-1 draw against his old club Everton last week.
“Creating music doesn’t take anything away from my football, it helps me switch off. I will always work hard and try to improve in my sport, but this is a good use of my spare time,” he said.
Footballer forays into music
Iwobi, however, is not the first footballer to go into music.
A reworked version of folk rock band Lindisfarne’s track Fog on the Tyne, with vocals by Paul Gascoigne, reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1990.
Former England striker Andy Cole’s cover of the Gap Bands’ song Outstanding peaked at number 68 while then Tottenham and Three Lions team-mates Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle released Diamond Lights, which reached number 12 in 1987.
Kevin Keegan’s 1979 song Head over Heels in Love made it to 31 in the charts.
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is an accomplished drummer, while former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin invented his own musical instrument which he called the Dube.
A masked rapper named ‘Dide’ rose to fame last year, claiming to be a Premier League footballer.
-BBC
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
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