CELEBRITY
NIGERIA’S SUNDAY OLISEH WRITES ON WHAT IT WAS TO MARK MARADONA
Former Nigeria defensive midfielder Sunday Oliseh had the job of marking Diego Maradona in what would turn out to be Maradona’s last game for his country, a 2-1 win over the Super Eagles at USA ’94. Here, Oliseh recalls how that game in Boston changed his career.
“I was shocked when I heard of Maradona’s death.
I had just walked into the room after dropping off my daughter at sport lessons. I put on the television and the news beeped on me. I had to sit down on the couch, because it is the kind of death you don’t think should happen.
It is not the time for it. It is somehow painful in way I can’t really explain.
Growing up back in the nineties, when I had just arrived in Europe with Liege, I had a big poster of Diego Maradona on my wall from the 1986 World Cup.
He was kind of like the modern Pele at the time. So playing against him at USA ’94, we knew we had a herculean task ahead of us.
Playing against him, you could always notice that he had he had something that no other player I had ever seen in my lifetime had.
The way he touched the ball – he didn’t really touch it, it was like he was massaging the ball.
Trying to get the ball out of him was really difficult.
I personally had to apply some tricks. I physically tried to surmount him – but that didn’t deter the man.
He was solid, strong, technical. He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
He was such a great step in my career.
After that game, I got so many accolades from the international press and from back home. My former coaches confirmed to me that I was on the right path.
But what impressed me the most about playing against Diego was the influence he had on his teammates.
That spurred me further to work towards having that kind of influence in the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the other teams I played.
I aspired to be at the point where my team-mates felt they were better with me, and without me they had problems. When his team-mates looked at Maradona, it was like they were looking at Moses about to take them to the Promised Land.
I could feel it because I was close to him all the game – and you could see that even when we scored, and went 1-0 up, he was still telling his colleagues, “take it easy – it is going to be alright.”
At the end of the game we lost 2-1, even though we had had a good outing.
Football is a team sport, but Diego made the world realise that some players can be bigger than the team.
He had an influence on the world. He was a national hero.
He is dead and the president has announced three days of mourning. They don’t do that to past presidents of Argentina, but they are doing it for Diego.
He modernized professional football. He was twice the most expensive player in the world, and there is a reason for that. It was because of him the transfer prices started to rocket.
He was a pioneer. You can see the way it has shaken the whole world. This is something that very few people in our lifetime can do.”
-BBC
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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