Former journalist Randhir Singh will never forget the day when Diego Maradona dropped his towel and stood without wearing anything in front of the press at the Merdeka Stadium dressing room in 1982.
Boca Juniors had just beaten Selangor 2-1 in an electrifying match, and the dressing room encounter was even more charged bordering hilarious.
"I was a rookie reporter for Sports Mirror (now defunct Malaysian paper) in 1982 when Boca Juniors played at a packed Merdeka Stadium against Selangor Selection.
"In those days, reporters were allowed into dressing rooms without much question. When I went in, Maradona came out of the shower and dropped his towel in front of everyone.
"It was a hilarious moment then, and a cherished one now that he has passed away," said Randhir, who went on to work with the New Straits Times for decades after that.
There was also a female journalist present then, and Maradona did not even blink an eye when he pulled off the towel trick.
"Tham Choy Lin of Bernama was a female reporter in the crowd, and she stood still as Maradona dropped his towel ... to signal the start of the press conference.
"He spoke Spanish, and we could not make up what he was saying to the foreign press.
"As a rookie journalist, I had tagged along with P'ng Hong Kwang (later NST production editor) and other senior writers, including Datuk Fauzi Omar, for the match.
Maradona only played for 45 minutes, but his slickness impressed everybody.
"The entire nation was divided as to why he was taken out after the breather.
"Some said it was because he was tightly marked by our defender Santokh Singh, while others said Boca did not want to exert Maradona in view that he might pick up an injury.
"For me, it was an exhibition game, and normally the stars do not play the entire 90 minutes in such matches," said Randhir.
NST sports editor Chan Wai Kong was at the Subang Airport in 1982 with other journalists to interview Maradona and other Boca members.
"I was at Subang Airport on behalf of The Star to interview Maradona, a day before Boca took on Selangor at the Merdeka Stadium.
"It was hard for the Malaysian media to communicate with Maradona as he spoke only Spanish.
"Whatever we got was through an interpreter. The interpreter was horrible.
"Maradona was an up-and-coming star then, and he was very quiet during the interview compared to his Boca teammates. However, Maradona did his talking on the field with his skills.
"Sadly, as a rookie reporter, I only covered Boca's arrival at the airport and training sessions. My seniors covered the match at the Merdeka Stadium," said Wai Kong.
The attacking midfielder went on to become a household name at the 1986 World Cup by leading Argentina to victory.