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Dazzling, notorious, extraordinary, genius, outrageous. Diego Maradona. A flawed soccer icon.
One of many recreation’s most gifted gamers, the Argentine boasted a uncommon mixture of aptitude, flamboyance, imaginative and prescient and velocity which mesmerised followers.
He additionally outraged supporters together with his controversial ‘Hand of God’ purpose and plunged right into a mire of drug abuse and private crises off the pitch.
Table of Contents
Quick and candy – The soccer genius
Born 60 years in the past in a Buenos Aires shanty city, Diego Armando Maradona escaped the poverty of his youth to turn out to be a soccer celebrity thought of by some to be even better than Brazil’s Pele.
The Argentine, who scored 259 objectives in 491 matches, pipped his South American rival in a ballot to find out the best participant of the twentieth Century, earlier than Fifa modified the voting guidelines so each gamers had been honoured.
Maradona confirmed prodigious capacity from a younger age, main Los Cebollitas youth staff to a 136-game unbeaten streak and happening to make his worldwide debut aged simply 16 years and 120 days.
Quick and stocky, at simply 5ft 5in, he was not your typical athlete.
However his silky abilities, agility, imaginative and prescient, ball management, dribbling and passing greater than compensated for lack of tempo and occasional weight issues.
He might have been a whizz at working rings spherical hostile defenders however he discovered it more durable to dodge hassle.
Hand of God & Purpose of the Century
Maradona’s 34 objectives in 91 appearances for Argentina inform solely a part of the story of his rollercoaster worldwide profession.
He led his nation to victory on the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and a spot within the last 4 years later.
Within the quarter-final of the sooner event, there was a foretaste of the controversy that might later engulf his life.
The match in opposition to England already had an additional friction, with the Falklands Warfare between the 2 nations having taken place solely 4 years beforehand. That on-field edge was to turn out to be much more intense.
With 51 minutes gone and the sport goalless, Maradona jumped with opposing goalkeeper Peter Shilton and scored by punching the ball into the online.
He later stated the purpose got here due to “slightly with the pinnacle of Maradona and slightly with the hand of God”.
4 minutes later, he scored what has been described because the ‘purpose of the century’ – amassing the ball in his personal half earlier than embarking on a bewitching, mazy run that left a number of gamers trailing earlier than he rounded Shilton to attain.
“You must say that’s magnificent. There isn’t any doubt about that purpose. That was simply pure soccer genius,” stated BBC commentator Barry Davies.
England pulled one again however Argentina went by means of, with Maradona saying it was “far more than successful a match, it was about knocking out the English”.
A hero for Napoli – however medication take maintain
Maradona broke the world switch file twice – leaving Boca Juniors in his residence nation for Spanish aspect Barcelona for £3m in 1982 and becoming a member of Italian membership Napoli two years later for £5m.
There have been greater than 80,000 followers within the Stadio San Paolo when he arrived by helicopter. A brand new hero.
He performed the perfect membership soccer of his profession in Italy, feted by supporters as he impressed the aspect to their first league titles in 1987 and 1990 and the Uefa Cup in 1989.
A celebration to have fun the primary triumph lasted 5 days with a whole bunch of hundreds on the streets, however Maradona was suffocated by the eye and expectation.
“This can be a nice metropolis however I can hardly breathe. I wish to be free to stroll round. I am a lad like every other,” he stated.
He turned inextricably linked to the Camorra crime syndicate, dragged down by a cocaine habit and embroiled in a paternity go well with.
After dropping 1-0 to Germany within the last of Italia 90, a optimistic dope check the next yr triggered a 15-month ban.
He returned and arrested his slide, showing to get his act collectively to play within the 1994 World Cup within the USA.
However he alarmed viewers with a maniacal full-face purpose celebration right into a digital camera and was withdrawn halfway by means of the event after he was discovered to have taken the banned substance ephedrine.
| 1977: Debut for Argentina v Hungary | 1991: 15-month ban after optimistic medication check |
| 1984: Joins Napoli after two-year spell with Barcelona | 1994: Performs in fourth World Cup however is ejected after optimistic check |
| 1986: Wins World Cup with Argentina | 1997: Retires from taking part in after third optimistic check |
| 1990: World Cup runner-up with Argentina. Second league title at Napoli | 2010: Ends two-year spell as Argentina supervisor after World Cup quarter-final exit |
Life after retirement
After his third optimistic check three years later, he retired from soccer on his thirty seventh birthday, however continued to be tormented by issues.
Maradona was given a suspended jail sentence of two years and 10 months for an earlier incident the place he shot at journalists with an air rifle.
His cocaine behavior and alcoholism led to a number of well being points. He placed on weight, rising to 128kg (20 stone) at one level, and suffered a significant coronary heart assault in 2004, which left him in intensive care.
He had gastric-bypass surgical procedure to assist stem his weight problems, and sought sanctuary in Cuba whereas battling to beat his drug habit.
Regardless of all this, Maradona was named supervisor of the Argentina nationwide staff in 2008 and took the aspect to the World Cup quarter-finals two years later earlier than his reign ended with a 4-0 defeat by Germany within the quarter-finals.
Varied managerial roles adopted for a determine who continued to divide opinion, and continued to make headlines.
He wanted reconstructive surgical procedure on his lip after one in every of his pet shar pei canine bit him, and publicly recognised his son Diego Armando Junior who was born from an extra-marital affair.
A snapshot of his chaotic way of life got here when he attended Argentina’s match in opposition to Nigeria on the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He unveiled a banner of himself, danced with a Nigeria fan, prayed to the heavens earlier than the sport, wildly celebrated Lionel Messi’s opener, fell asleep and gave a double center finger salute after Argentina’s second purpose.
Some stories prompt he wanted medical therapy afterwards.
Disgraceful, impressed, entertaining, nice, excessive. Diego Maradona. A life much less abnormal.
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