Diego Maradona Nearly Collapses After Argentina vs Nigeria Match

Screen Shot 2018-06-26 at 4.28.02 PM

It looks like Diego Maradona just can’t keep away from making the headlines after every match he attends to watch his national team. The latest  he pulled was a worrying one for his fans and family as images with him being helped from his seat and inside a private booth on St. Petersburg Stadium after Nigeria vs Argentina ended.

A Star on the Field but Not So Shiny in Present Times

This is not the first time when the Argentinian ex super-star has generated rumors and concern for his reckless behavior and it seems that the situation is getting worse by the week for Diego. The Nigeria vs Argentina football match that he attended seems to be his worst public appearance so far. Maradona was caught by the cameras displaying a rather weird celebration / prayer when Messi scored his first goal against Nigeria. And, even though, all the TV commentators and football enthusiast are reluctant to point it out, it might be another case of substance abuse for what used to be the greatest player in Argentinian football.

Everything Starts with a Dance

In the moment ahead of the game, Diego Maradona was caught by cameras while dancing with a female Nigeria fan in his private booth at St. Petersburg stadium. Even though clearly not in his best shape, Maradona is seen smiling and dancing with the young supporter. A mood anyone will get into if they enjoyed some pokies online real money. But this was just the beginning of what can be classified as an almost melt-down of what used to be a fantastic football player. The images of the dance quickly spread on the internet and everyone was actually surprised to see a non-trivial footage of Maradona.

Swearing at the Nigerian Fans

It seems that the good graces didn’t last too long for Diego Maradona as, right after Argentina managed to score a late goal that got them a spot in the knockout phase, he was caught again by the cameras. This time in a totally different mood, swearing and flipping his middle finger at the Nigerian fans below him. A friend of his in the official booth at the stadium tried to stop him but it looked like Maradona was high on excitement and could not be contained, no matter the efforts. This time around, the football commentators weren’t so delicate about Diego’s choice of celebration and many other football stars declared that they feel sorry for Maradona.

An Emotional Carrousel

All these sudden emotional shifts from dancing with the Nigerian fan, to saying prayers as he was directly talking to God, to waiving the middle finger at Nigerian fans, seemed to have taken a tool on Diego. Right after the match has ended, he was seen being helped out of his seat and taken inside the stadium where Russian paramedics immediately attended him. Some newspapers reported that he was then taken to a local hospital, however, official sources claim that Maradona was stabilized at the stadium and he refused being taken to a hospital. Only hours later, Maradona was pictured on board of a private jet that was flying towards Moscow.

After a huge career that ended in controversy and positive testing for cocaine that made him retire from professional football, Diego Maradona looks like he didn’t learn anything from what he has been through and continues to set a bad example for kid watching the football games. Moving back to football, we can only hope the World Cup in Russia will gives us more and more matches that steal the show with the action on the field and not what happens in the stands.

Arrow to top