Napoli to rename stadium after Diego Maradona

Maradona Naples

Napoli is planning to rename its soccer stadium after Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona according to Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports on Friday.  Maradona passed away at the age of 60 on November 25 of a heart attack after undergoing brain surgery.

Maradona played eight seasons for Napoli of Serie A from 1984 to 1991. In that time, he scored 81 goals in 188 games. In five seasons with Napoli, Maradona reached the double-digit mark in goals for Serie A games. He had 14 goals in 30 games in 1984-85, 11 goals in 29 games in 1985-86, 10 goals in 29 games in 1986-87, 15 goals in 28 games in 1987-88, and 16 goals in 28 games in 1989-90. In all, Maradona had 115 goals in 259 games for Napoli.

While Maradona was with Napoli, the team won two Serie A titles. The first came in 1986-87, and the other came in 1989-90. Napoli has not won a Serie A title since. In 1986-87, Napoli had a record of 15 wins, three losses, and 12 draws for 42 points. At the time, teams only received two points instead of three points for a win. Napoli defeated Juventus by three points. Then in 1989-90, Napoli had a record of 21 wins, four losses, and nine draws for 51 points. That season, Napoli had two more points than second place A.C. Milan.

In addition to playing professionally for Napoli, Maradona played for the Argentinos Juniors from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1997, the Boca Juniors in Argentina from 1981 to 1982, FC Barcelona in La Liga from 1982 to 1984, Sevilla in La Liga from 1992 to 1993, and the Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina from 1993 to 1994. The only professional soccer team that Maradona scored more goals with than Napoli was the Argentinos Juniors, as he had 116 goals for them.

Napoli’s current stadium is Stadio San Paolo. So far in the 2020-21 Serie A season, Napoli is in fifth place with a record of six wins and three losses for 17 points. They have 17 points instead of 18 points, because they lost one point for violating coronavirus protocol against Juventus on October 4, 2020. Napoli also lost the match by default, 3-0.

 

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