The legendary football icon Diego Maradona is still considered one of the greatest football players of all time. But many of the football enthusiasts are now surprised to see his 'new oversized look' after a video recently started doing the rounds on social media.
The clip shows an obese man kicking a tennis ball claiming to be that of Argentinian footballer, who has 'put on weight' due to Coronavirus lockdown. Many of his ardent fans seem to have been shattered by the player's new appearance. "Please tell me this is NOT Maradona," commented many netizens, while some others have even mocked him calling "maradonut".
"How do you convince your children that this was the best player in the world and achieved the World Cup in 1986 Maradona ??? (sic)," reads one of the comments on Twitter. But has he actually become this obese?
The Truth
The retired footballer has undoubtedly gained weight over the years. But Maradona fans, who are now left in shock can relax as the viral clip doesn't feature him. It is taken from an Italian comedy-drama film Youth directed by Paolo Sorrentino. In the 2015 movie, which has Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel in lead roles, there is a fictionalized version of an overweight Diego Maradona. The character was played by Argentinian actor Roly Serrano.
The actor has also shared a photo from the movie on his Instagram account with the caption: "playing @maradona in the Italian film, Juventud de (translated from Spanish)."
Several clips from the movie with misleading titles and captions have been shared on YouTube way back in 2015 itself. An article published on a Spanish website in 2016 also proves that it is not a clip of Maradona. Meanwhile, the renowned player, often called The Golden Boy, is currently the coach of Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata.
