SCP Auctions is honored to present this historic Argentinos Juniors jersey worn by Diego Maradona on May 22, 1977, when the 16-year-old scored his first ever home goals to earn the career-defining nickname, “El Pibe de Oro” (The Golden Boy). It comes with strong photographic evidence from two authentication leaders in soccer/football and well-documented provenance tracing it back to Maradona's father-in-law’s acclaimed collection.

The legend of Diego Armando Maradona began in Villa Fiorito, a working-class suburb south of Buenos Aires. Born on October 30, 1960, he was raised in this shantytown by catholic parents who struggled to make ends meet for their family of ten. At age three he was given his first football and became obsessed with the sport, playing on a local dirt pitch known as Siete Conchitas (Seven Little Pitches). Before long, scouts swarmed his barrio to watch the astonishing little talent on his local club, Estrella Roja (Red Star). In March 1969, eight-year-old Diego was recruited by Argentinos Juniors and joined the local top-flight club’s developmental team, Los Cebollitas. During one 1973-74 stretch, he led “The Little Onions” to a remarkable 136-match unbeaten streak. It became clear that football would be Diego’s escape from poverty.

On October 20, 1976, Maradona was called up to Argentinos Juniors’ senior squad and made his professional debut at the age of 15. It was a monumental moment in football history as he remains the youngest ever to play in the Argentine First Division. Diego wore number 16 ten days before he would turn 16 and famously nutmegged an opponent in his first match. He scored his first two professional goals at an away match against San Lorenzo on November 14, 1976. As his confidence grew playing with men twice his age, he was awarded the coveted #10 jersey in February 1977.

Then came a special performance on May 22, 1977, in front of his beloved Argentinos Juniors home crowd. Still just 16 years old, Diego scored two majestic goals in a 5-2 victory over Atlanta. He opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the first half and completed his brace in the opening minute of the second half (‘46). These were his first two goals at Argentinos Juniors' home stadium that now bears his name – Estadio Diego Armando Maradona – in La Paternal, a suburb of Buenos Aires near Diego’s hometown. The most prestigious clubs in Argentina have long been River Plate and Boca Juniors, yet Diego opted to play for his local blue-collar team, an important decision as a young teenager that cemented lifelong loyalty from the Argentinian masses.

After his brilliant two-goal masterpiece, distinguished Argentine journalist Victor Hugo Morales gave Diego the nickname “El Pibe de Oro” in the newspaper the following day. Morales would later gain worldwide fame during the 1986 FIFA World Cup when he coined Maradona’s second goal in the Quarterfinal against England as “Gol del Siglo” (Goal of the Century”), which came just two minutes after Diego’s notorious “La Mano de Dios" (Hand of God) goal.

In 1977 Maradona made his debut at age 16 with the Argentina National Team, a reign that would last until 1994. During his 1976-81 tenure with Argentinos Juniors, he scored 116 goals – his most with any club – and became an adult, a man of the Argentinian people. It was a far more rewarding time – and less tumultuous off the pitch – than his 1982-93 run in Europe with FC Barcelona, Napoli, and Sevilla.

Authentication

Maradona’s first goal at La Paternal on May 22, 1977, came after a scintillating touch that froze the goalkeeper, allowing Diego to slide a perfectly placed shot inside the near post. He immediately leaped into the air and punched his fist to the sky – perhaps the first time he showed off his patented goal-scoring celebration. This is viewable in a patchy online video, but there is a clear photograph that wonderfully captures the back of Maradona’s #10 jersey in midair as a teammate comes over to celebrate with him.

Using this image, both Resolution Photomatching and Sports Investors Authentication came very close to confirming a conclusive photo-match in their respective letters of opinion. SIA classifies it as an “apparent” photo-match, while ResMatch calls it a “possible” match. Unfortunately, this black and white image and two others of lesser quality are the only source photos from the match played a half-century ago. The font style, back alignment, and outline configuration of the white numbers appear to be spot on, but there just are not enough discernable variation points on the shirt to be 100% certain. Overall, the result is as good as one can expect from an Argentina Primera División regular-season match between two mid-tier clubs in 1977.

Physical Description & Condition

The red jersey has a white trimmed crew neck and white sleeve ends. It comes in the traditional home style for Argentinos Juniors with long sleeves to be worn in cooler weather. Manufactured by Argentinian sportswear brand Uribarri, its well-worn white tag hanging inside the collar is now illegible. There is no apparel logo or club crest on the front as was typical of the simple design of football shirts from that era. Stretching, pilling, and light sweat-staining to the knit material show obvious match wear. A notable find within the fabric are little specks of black hair from Maradona’s shaggy long black mop – appropriate for his other moniker, “El Pelusa” (The Fuzz). The shirt has been immaculately preserved, allowing for ideal display potential.

Provenance: Quite the Journey

Realizing how special this jersey was to his growing legacy, young Diego ended up giving it to the father of his then-girlfriend and future wife, Claudia Villafañe, as a token of love and respect. This generous ritual of gifting football mementos from his career to his partner’s father would repeat itself countless times. His daughter and Diego were legally married from 1989 until 2004, but their relationship began in their early teens. The substantial Diego Maradona collection of Mr. Roque Nicolas Villafañe became highly coveted by football collectors around the world. “Coco”, as he was known, cherished these items from his beloved son-in-law for decades until the final years of his life. He only allowed a few high-profile friends and acquaintances access, and in 2006 he sold this jersey to a prominent Italian sports collector whose letter of provenance documents the chain of custody until that time. Ownership was later transferred to Franco Camozzi, licensed FIFA player agent and current CEO of Blacklist Football Agency in Milan, Italy.

After acquiring this jersey recently from Camozzi, our consignors – a father and son from Italy, and stewards of a diversified archive of football and historical items known as “Del Puglia Collections” – went to work. Their knowledge of Maradona shirts from early in his career indicated it could be extraordinarily significant. It was Daniele Puglia’s son, Shaul, who first connected the shirt to May 22, 1977, based on the seemingly identical attributes from Diego’s goal-celebrating photo. Months of research included a trip to Buenos Aires where they saw Diego’s first home in Villa Fiorito, looked for more information and photos at the National Library of Argentina, and visited Argentinos Juniors’ La Paternal stadium (now named after Maradona) as well as the club’s historical archives. They even met in person with Diego’s Argentinos Juniors teammate, Bartolo Álvarez, whose hand touches Diego’s side in that same photo used for the apparent photo-match. Álvarez, who led the league in goals in 1977, recognized the jersey as being from that season and was honored to be in its presence again (image of encounter included).

Conclusion

Through our consignors’ exhausting efforts, and after positive authentication results from two of the industry’s most reputable photo-matching services, we have the utmost confidence that this is Diego Maradona’s famous “El Pibe de Oro” Jersey from May 22, 1977. It ranks as one of the most historically significant football jerseys ever to come to market, and certainly in Diego’s storied career. The 1986 World Cup “Hand of God” jersey, captain’s armband, and match ball have all yielded record-setting auction results, elevating Maradona’s status as a hobby GOAT and one of the most collectable athletes extant. As the 50-year mark of this historic match and museum-worthy artifact approaches next May, Daniele and Shaul Puglia of Del Puglia Collections are graciously allowing the next owner plenty of time to celebrate the golden anniversary in style.