10 Retired Footballers Who Went Out In Style
8. Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona: one of the greatest yet most scandalous footballers to have ever graced a pitch.
Having only recently lost his place as Napoli's all-time top goalscorer to Marek Hamsik and Dries Mertens, the 90-capped Argentinian second striker was simply unplayable.
Unfortunately he was unplayable in more ways than one.
When he wasn't dazzling crowds and befuddling the opposition, he was serving bans for drug abuse.
Maradona's unfortunate addiction to cocaine in-turn made his playing suffer as he struggled with concentration and weight issues. By 1995, at the age of 35, The Golden Boy was slapped with his third suspension just a week after signing for Boca Juniors.
Diego Maradona announced his retirement from his home's balcony in October 1997, alleging that powerful people were attempting to 'frame' him and he was ending his career to protect himself and his family.
In 2001 Maradona had a testimonial (the attached video) which featured an Argentina XI vs. a World XI, including the likes of Javier Zanetti, Eric Cantona, Juan Roman Riquelme and Hristo Stoichkov.
During the game, he even removed his Argentina shirt to play in his Boca kit.
As he scored a couple of penalties past Rene Higuita, Maradona called time on his playing career.