Maradona, never shying away from controversies

Diego Maradona, one of the greatest footballers in the history, has died at the age of 60, suffering from a heart attack. He was recovering after undergoing a brain surgery at the start of November. 

Needless to say, Maradona was a divisive character, never shying away from controversies. In other words, controversies chased him. Let us look at five such incidents. 

 Hand of God 

Diego Maradona probably scored the most controversial goal ever in the history of football when he netted the ball using his hand against England in the 1986 World Cup. He later named it 'Hand of God'.

Hence, he was never a likeable figure as far as the England fans are concerned. 

But it was not the only time he pissed the England fans off. He heavily criticised the referee the referee who officiated the match between England and Colombia, in which England won and qualified for the quarterfinals. He belittled England's effort saying that the man who appointed the referees was to blame and accused the English players of diving. 

Kicking a fan

Maradona had a short temper. So, it was quite easy to make him angry. Once he was getting a photo of his clicked in front of a poster which read, "I love you, Benja", which was a sign of his love for his grandson Benjamin.

Meanwhile, a fan was disturbing him by lifting the poster continuously. Maradona, who was looking for a perfect shot, got really angry and ended up kicking the fan's hand. The fan actually had no idea what was going on and he was only trying to have a look at the superstar. 

Criticising Messi for retirement 

Lionel Messi was frustrated after losing three consecutive finals and decided that he was done. However, he changed his minds few months later and made a comeback.

It did not please Maradona who suggested that the whole act could've been staged. " I do not know whether this was staged to make us understand that he'd lost three finals, but we never lost by big margins," he said.

"He got annoyed for nothing. He wasn't to blame for the defeat, others were. So why did he announce his retirement? He spoke too quickly, made everyone hold their breath (on a potential return)," he also said.

Slapping a journalist

It is well-known that it was very easy to get on Maradona's nerves. 

A journalist once showed the audacity of winking at Maradona's girlfriend. Controversies and Maradona walk hand-in-hand. It was one of those moments. A visibly angry Maradona walked up to the journalist to ask what was wrong. The superstar then slapped the journalist for his 'misbehavior'.

'Messi has no personality'

Maradona used to praise Messi most of the time but did not shy away from criticising him when needed. But sometimes he did so when it was not needed at all.

He was talking to Pele at an event. Pele asked Maradona whether he knew  Messi personally. 

Maradona came up with a controversial answer, saying that Messi is a good person but he has no personality and lacks character to lead a team.