New Maradona

This article is part of a series about Diego Maradona
Argentine professional footballer International goals The hand of God New Maradona Goal of the Century Comparisons to Pelé Eponyms and public art Estadio Diego Armando Maradona Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona Sistine Chapel of Football Films El camino de San Diego (2006) Maradona, the Hand of God (2007) In the Hands of the Gods (2007) Maradona by Kusturica (2008) I Am Diego Maradona (2015) Diego Maradona (2019) Media Maradona in Mexico (2019) Maradona: Blessed Dream (2021) Family Diego Sinagra Hugo Maradona Raúl Maradona Hernán López Related New Maradona Iglesia Maradoniana Maradona (kesä '86) Peter Shilton's Handball Maradona (1986)
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New Maradona or New Diego was a title given by the press and public to promising Argentine football players in reference (and reverence) to Diego Maradona as a benchmark. Since Maradona retired, people had been anticipating someone to lead the Argentina national team to a World Cup final, like Maradona did in 1986 and 1990. As a consequence, very talented youngsters were quickly labeled as the New Maradona (for example Lionel Messi or Juan Román Riquelme), sometimes without any similarity in playing style (such as Franco Di Santo). The New Maradonas were predominantly players in attacking or advanced playmaking roles — forwards, wingers, or attacking midfielders. The term gradually fell out of use after Lionel Messi successfully managed to lead Argentina to World Cup finals in 2014 and 2022, winning it in the latter, arguably emulating and surpassing Maradona to become the most successful Argentine footballer ever.