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Diego Maradona set to come out of retirement

By on February 21, 2014

Diego Maradona has raised quite a few eyebrows after reportedly deciding to come out of retirement at the age of 53 to continue his playing career with fifth tier Argentine side Deportivo Riestra.  The footballing legend hung up his boots a full 16 years ago, yet according to reports released by The Mirror Maradona said “I want to play,” and is set to join Riesta in just five weeks.

“Within five gameweeks, Maradona will be playing for Riestra,” a club source reportedly revealed. “He will debut on approximately the 23rd of March.”

Maradona has already served as the side’s “”Spiritual Coach”, after being introduced to the club by Victor Stinfale, Maradona’s legal representative and the financier of Riestra.  The lowly club is based in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, and is set to move into the stadium of local giants San Lorenzo shortly.  However, it is yet to be seen whether Maradona will really dust off his old boots, or if the whole story is just a publicity stunt.  Coming out of retirement looked impossible for the former World Cup winner just a few years ago due to his size, but having reshaped his figure from overweight and stocky to muscular it will be very interesting to see how Maradona fares in a competitive environment at his age.

However, if he has kept just some of the skill he had during his playing career he will likely blow the lowly competition away.  Maradona won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, while cementing his place in World Cup history by scoring his legendary “hand of god” in the quarterfinals against England.  The controversial figure finished as part of Argentina’s second place finish at the 1990 World Cup, while also having a fantastic playing career with Barcelona, Napoli, Boca Juniors, and Sevilla.  Maradona is regarded as one of the best poachers and finishers of all time, with ball skills only rivaled by the likes of Pele, Lionel Messi and possibly Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of course, the legend even has his own religion, in which he is worshiped, and frequently just refereed to as “god”.  The religion is actually reportedly followed by some 250,000 peoples, who would love to see Maradona return to football.  And who knows, with the World Cup on the horizon, can Maradona lift the cup for the second time in his glittering career alongside Lionel Messi?

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.