Diego Maradona for the winning goal in the final, ensuring that he would be remembered as one of the greatest names in football history. By the end of the World Cup, Maradona went on to win the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament by unanimous vote and was widely regarded to have won the World Cup virtually single-handedly, something that he later stated he did not entirely agree with. Zinedine Zidane, watching the 1986 World Cup as a 14 year old, stated Maradona “was on another level”. In a tribute to him, Azteca Stadium authorities built a statue of
Sport in Argentina WBA world Middleweight champion Jorge Castro knocked out John David Jackson in the ninth round to retain his title in Monterrey, Mexico. Since Castro was on the brink of suffering a technical knockout loss when he won the fight, the punch with which he beat Jackson has become known as boxing's version of Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal. Marcela Acuña is a world champion female boxer, and arguably one of the most popular fighters of the 2000s in Argentina. Other fighters, such as Oscar Bonavena, Juan Roldán, and Luis Firpo, did not win world championships, but were also popular