Diego Maradona played his last competitive game against Nigeria

Diego Maradona played his last competitive game against Nigeria

Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:41 PM

- Diego Maradona died of cardiovascular arrest on November 25, 2020

- The legend had battled several illnesses relating to addiction for some time

- Maradona’s last international match for Argentina was against Nigeria at USA ‘94

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Diego Maradona last made his last international appearance for Argentina during their second group game against Nigeria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

He was 33 years of age at that time as he was obviously star of the match, but the South American team had to battle for victory after Samson Siasia had put the Super Eagles ahead as early as the 8th minute.

Argentina leveled-up through Claudio Caniggia in the 21st minute after goalkeeper Peter Rufai spilled a free kick to his path as the striker followed-up with a rebound to make it 1-1.

And barely seven minutes later, Maradona then broke the hearts of Nigerians when he cheekily caught the Nigerian defense unaware when he passed to Caniggia on the left flank before striker ‘wired’ the ball into the far post leaving Rufai hapless in goal.

La Albiceleste won the tie 2-1, but that didn’t stop Nigeria from winning the group which also had Bulgaria and Greece. Argentina qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.

Diego Maradona: History shows late Argentina legend played his last competitive game against Nigeria
Diego Maradona played his last international match at USA 94. Photo: Ben Radford
Source: Getty Images

However after the game against the Super Eagles, Maradona was randomly selected for a doping test and after five days, result showed he had a banned stimulant (ephedrine) on June 25. He was consequently barred from participating in the rest of the competition.

And during a press conference after the discovery, the legend famously cried to the press: “They have cut off my legs.”

It was the controversy that led to the end of his international career, and things went from bad to worse with Argentina losing their last group game 2-0 to Bulgaria.

Having qualified for the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams, Romania handed the South Americans a stunning 3-2 defeat to knock them out of the tournament to end their title dreams.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Diego Maradona is gone but his memories still linger as Napoli's San Paolo stadium has been renamed after him.

The footballing world was shocked with the demise of arguably the greatest player to have played the round leather game.

And the Serie A side have taken it upon themselves to give him the highest honour as a former player of the club.

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Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
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