Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the
FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona's vision, passing, ball control, and
dribbling skills were combined with his small stature, which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to manoeuvre better than most other players. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. In addition to his creative abilities, he possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a
free kick specialist. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "''El Pibe de Oro''" ("The Golden Boy"), a name that stuck with him throughout his career. He also had a troubled off-field life and was banned in both 1991 and 1994 for abusing drugs.
An
advanced playmaker who operated in the
classic number 10 position, Maradona was the first player to set the
world record transfer fee twice: in 1982 when he transferred to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
for £5 million, and in 1984 when he moved to
Napoli for a fee of £6.9 million. He played for
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
,
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...
, Barcelona, Napoli,
Sevilla, and
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli where he won numerous accolades.
In his international career with
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
, he earned 91
caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona played in four
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
s, including the
1986 World Cup in Mexico, where he captained Argentina and led them to
victory over West Germany in the final, and won the
Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. In the
1986 World Cup quarter final, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
that entered football history for two different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handling foul known as the "
Hand of God", while the second goal followed a dribble past five England players, voted "
Goal of the Century
Argentina v England was a football match played on 22 June 1986 between Argentina and England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The game was held four years after the Falklands War between ...
" by FIFA.com voters in 2002.
Maradona became the coach of Argentina's national football team in November 2008. He was in charge of the team at the
2010 World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. He then coached
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
-based club
Al Wasl in the
UAE Pro-League
The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...
for the 2011–12 season. In 2017, Maradona became the coach of
Fujairah
Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...
before leaving at the end of the season. In May 2018, Maradona was announced as the new chairman of
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
ian club
Dynamo Brest. He arrived in Brest and was presented by the club to start his duties in July. From September 2018 to June 2019, Maradona was coach of Mexican club
Dorados
Dorados de Sinaloa, or Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club based on Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
History
Dorados de Sinaloa was founded on August 9, 2003. The Dorados was the youngest team to play on First Division de México, hav ...
. He was the coach of Argentine Primera División club
Gimnasia de La Plata from September 2019 until his death in November 2020.
Early years
Diego Armando Maradona was born on 30 October 1960, at the Policlínico (Polyclinic) Evita Hospital in
Lanús
Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan ...
,
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
to a poor family that had moved from
Corrientes Province
Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...
; he was raised in
Villa Fiorito
Villa Fiorito is a city in the Lomas de Zamora Partido of Buenos Aires Province, to the south of central Buenos Aires, Argentina. It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation. Many Italian and Spanish descendants live there. In re ...
, a
shantytown on the southern outskirts of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina.
He was the first son after four daughters. He has two younger brothers,
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
(''el Turco'') and
Raúl
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
(Lalo), both of whom were also professional football players. His father Diego Maradona "Chitoro" (1927–2015), who worked at a chemicals factory, was of
Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to
Ethnography
* Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia)
* Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay
* ...
(Indigenous) and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
(
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
) descent, and his mother Dalma Salvadora Franco, "Doña Tota" (1930–2011), was of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
descent from
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
.
![Maradona torneos evita](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Maradona_torneos_evita.jpg)
Maradona's parents were both born and brought up in the town of
Esquina in the north-east province of
Corrientes
Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...
on the banks of the
Corriente River. In the 1950s, they left Esquina and settled in Buenos Aires.
Maradona received his first football as a gift at age three and quickly became devoted to the game. At age eight, he was spotted by a talent scout while he was playing in his local club Estrella Roja. In March 1969 he was recommended to ''Los Cebollitas'' (The Little Onions), the junior team of Buenos Aires's
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
by his close friend and football rival
Gregorio Carrizo who had already been picked by coach Francis Gregorio Cornejo. Maradona became a star for the Cebollitas, and as a 12-year-old ball boy he amused spectators by showing his ball skills during the halftime breaks of Argentinos Juniors' first division games. During 1973 and 1974, Maradona led Cebollitas to two ''Evita Tournament'' wins and 141 undefeated games in a row, playing alongside players like
Adrian Domenech and
Claudio Rodríguez, in what is regarded as the best youth team in the history of Argentine football. Maradona named Brazilian playmaker
Rivellino
Roberto Rivellino (also Rivelino, ; ; born 1 January 1946) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer. He was one of the stars of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team. Rivellino currently works as a pundit for Brazilian TV Cult ...
and
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
winger
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...
among his inspirations growing up.
Club career
Argentinos Juniors
![Maradona cano debut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Maradona_cano_debut.jpg)
On 20 October 1976, Maradona made his professional debut for
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
, 10 days before his 16th birthday,
versus
Talleres de Córdoba
Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known f ...
. He entered to the pitch wearing the number 16 jersey, and became the youngest player in the history of the
Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
Th ...
. A few minutes into his debut, Maradona kicked the ball through the legs of
Juan Domingo Cabrera, a
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
that would become symbolic of his talent.
After the game, Maradona said, "That day I felt I had held the sky in my hands." Thirty years later, Cabrera remembered Maradona's debut: "I was on the right side of the field and went to press him, but he didn't give me a chance. He made the nutmeg and when I turned around, he was far away from me". Maradona scored his first goal in the Primera División against
Marplatense team San Lorenzo on 14 November 1976, two weeks after turning 16.
Boca Juniors
![Diego Maradona celebrando la obtención del Torneo Metropolitano de 1981](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Diego_Maradona_celebrando_la_obtenci%C3%B3n_del_Torneo_Metropolitano_de_1981.jpg)
Maradona spent five years at
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
, from 1976 to 1981, scoring 115 goals in 167 appearances before his
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
4 million transfer to
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...
. Maradona received offers to join other clubs, including
River Plate who offered to make him the club's best paid player.
However, River decided to drop its bid due to its large payroll in keeping
Daniel Passarella
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
and
Ubaldo Fillol
Ubaldo Matildo Fillol (; born 21 July 1950), nicknamed ''el Pato'' (in English: "the Duck"), is an Argentine football coach and former goalkeeper. He took part in the 1974, 1978 (where he won the championship with his team and was voted Best Goalk ...
.
Maradona signed a contract with Boca Juniors on 20 February 1981. He made his debut two days later against
Talleres de Córdoba
Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known f ...
, scoring twice in the club's 4–1 win. On 10 April, Maradona played his first ''
Superclásico
Superclásico is the football match in Argentina between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It derives from the Spanish usage of "clásico" to mean derby, with the prefix "super" used as the two clubs are the most popular and su ...
'' against River Plate at
La Bombonera
The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands rou ...
stadium. Boca defeated River 3–0 with Maradona scoring a goal after dribbling past
Alberto Tarantini
Alberto César Tarantini (born 3 December 1955) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He won the 1978 FIFA World Cup with the Argentina national football team. He played as a defensive left back early in his ...
and Fillol. Despite the distrustful relationship between Maradona and Boca Juniors manager,
, Boca had a successful season, winning the
league title after securing a point against
Racing Club. That would be the only title won by Maradona in the Argentine domestic league.
Barcelona
After the
1982 World Cup, in June, Maradona was transferred to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in Spain for a then
world record fee of £5 million ($7.6 million). In 1983, under coach
César Luis Menotti
César Luis Menotti (; born 5 November 1938), known as ''El Flaco'' ("Slim"), is an Argentine former football manager and player who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as the head coach of the Argentina national team.
During his playing days, he pl ...
, Barcelona and Maradona won the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
(Spain's annual national cup competition), beating
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, and the
Spanish Super Cup
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, beating
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
. On 26 June 1983, Barcelona won away to Real Madrid in one of the world's biggest club games, ''
El Clásico
El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...
'', a match where Maradona scored and became the first Barcelona player to be applauded by arch-rival Real Madrid fans.
Maradona dribbled past Madrid goalkeeper
Agustín, and as he approached the empty goal, he stopped just as Madrid defender
Juan José came sliding in an attempt to block the shot. José ended up crashing into the post, before Maradona slotted the ball into the net. With the manner in which the goal was scored resulting in applause from opposition fans, only
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...
(in November 2005) and
Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of hi ...
(in November 2015) have since been granted such an ovation as Barcelona players from Madrid fans at the
Santiago Bernabéu.
["Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 3: Bernabeu forced to pay homage as Ronaldinho soars above the galacticos"](_blank)
''The Independent''. Retrieved 29 November 2013
![Goikoetxea lesiona maradona](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Goikoetxea_lesiona_maradona.jpg)
Due to illness and injury as well as controversial incidents on the field, Maradona had a difficult tenure in Barcelona.
First a bout of
hepatitis
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
, then a broken ankle in a
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
game at the
Camp Nou
Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
in September 1983 caused by a reckless tackle by Athletic Bilbao's
Andoni Goikoetxea—nicknamed "the Butcher of Bilbao"—threatened to jeopardize Maradona's career, but with treatment and rehabilitation, it was possible for him to return to the pitch after a three-month recovery period.
Maradona was directly involved in a violent and chaotic fight at the 1984 Copa del Rey Final at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid against Athletic Bilbao. After receiving another hard tackle by Goikoetxea, as well as being taunted with racist insults related to his father's Native American ancestry throughout the match by Bilbao fans, and being provoked by Bilbao's Miguel Sola at full time after Barcelona lost 1–0, Maradona snapped. He aggressively got up, stood inches from Sola's face and the two exchanged words. This started a chain reaction of emotional reactions from both teams. Using expletives, Sola mimicked a gesture from the crowd towards Maradona by using a xenophobic term. Maradona then headbutted Sola, elbowed another Bilbao player in the face and kneed another player in the head, knocking him out cold. The Bilbao squad surrounded Maradona to exact some retribution, with Goikoetxea connecting with a high kick to his chest, before the rest of the Barcelona squad joined in to help Maradona. From this point, Barcelona and Bilbao players brawled on the field with Maradona in the centre of the action, kicking and punching anyone in a Bilbao shirt.
The mass brawl was played out in front of the Spanish King Juan Carlos
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
and an audience of 100,000 fans inside the stadium, and more than half of Spain watching on television. After fans began throwing solid objects on the field at the players, coaches and even photographers, sixty people were injured, with the incident effectively sealing Maradona's transfer out of the club in what was his last game in a Barcelona shirt.[Luca Caioli (2013). "Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend"] One Barcelona executive stated, "When I saw those scenes of Maradona fighting and the chaos that followed I realized we couldn't go any further with him."[Jimmy Burns. (2011). "Maradona: The Hand of God". pp.121–122. A&C Black] Maradona got into frequent disputes with FC Barcelona executives, particularly club president Josep Lluís Núñez
José Luis Núñez Clemente (7 September 1931 – 3 December 2018), often known by the Catalanized form of his name used by the Catalan press, Josep Lluís Núñez i Clemente, was president of FC Barcelona between 1978 and 2000. He was elected ...
, culminating with a demand to be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984. During his two injury-hit seasons at Barcelona, Maradona scored 38 goals in 58 games. Maradona transferred to Napoli in Italy's Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
for another world record fee, £6.9 million ($10.48 million).
Napoli
Maradona arrived in Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and was presented to the world media as a Napoli player on 5 July 1984, where he was welcomed by 75,000 fans at his presentation at the Stadio San Paolo
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (formerly known as Stadio San Paolo) is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the third largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro and Rome's Stadio Olimpico, as well as ...
. Sports writer David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid.Weinberg, Paul.David Goldblatt: Photographer Who Found the Human in an Inhuman ...
commented, "They he fans
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
were convinced that the saviour had arrived." A local newspaper stated that despite the lack of a "mayor, houses, schools, buses, employment and sanitation, none of this matters because we have Maradona". Prior to Maradona's arrival, Italian football was dominated by teams from the north and centre of the country, such as A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
, Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
, Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
, and Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
, and no team in the south of the Italian Peninsula had ever won a league title. This was perhaps the perfect scenario for the Maradona and his working-class-sympathetic image, as he joined a once-great team that was facing relegation at the end of the 1983–84 Serie A season, in what was the toughest and most highly regarded football league in Europe.
At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career: he soon inherited the captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
's armband from Napoli veteran defender Giuseppe Bruscolotti
Giuseppe Bruscolotti (born 1 June 1951) is a former Italian footballer who played as a right-back. He is mostly remembered for his lengthy spell with S.S.C. Napoli, where he served as the club's captain and contributed to the team's first ever Se ...
and quickly became an adored star among the club's fans; in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Maradona played for Napoli at a period when north–south tensions in Italy were at a peak due to a variety of issues, notably the economic differences between the two. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their first ever Serie A Italian Championship in 1986–87. Goldblatt wrote, "The celebrations were tumultuous. A rolling series of impromptu street parties and festivities broke out contagiously across the city in a round-the-clock carnival which ran for over a week. The world was turned upside down. The Neapolitans held mock funerals for Juventus and Milan, burning their coffins, their death notices announcing 'May 1987, the other Italy has been defeated. A new empire is born.'" Murals of Maradona were painted on the city's ancient buildings, and newborn children were named in his honour. The following season, the team's prolific attacking trio, formed by Maradona, Bruno Giordano, and Careca
Antônio de Oliveira Filho (born 5 October 1960), better known as Careca (), is a Brazilian former footballer, who was deployed as a forward. During his career, Careca played for several clubs, most notably with Italian side Napoli. He also r ...
, was later dubbed the "Ma-Gi-Ca" (''magical'') front-line.
Napoli would win their second league title in 1989–90, and finish runners up in the league twice, in 1987–88 and 1988–89. Other honours during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
in 1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
(as well as a second-place finish in the Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
in 1989), the UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
in 1989, and the Italian Supercup
The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...
in 1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
. During the 1989 UEFA Cup Final against Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Maradona scored from a penalty in a 2–1 home victory in the first leg, later assisting Careca's match–winning goal, while in the second leg on 17 May – a 3–3 away draw – he assisted Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to M ...
's goal with a header. Despite primarily playing in a creative role as an attacking midfielder, Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987–88 with 15 goals, and was the all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli, with 115 goals, until his record was broken by Marek Hamšík
Marek Hamšík (; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. He formerly captained the Slovakia national team.
After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 20 ...
in 2017. When asked who was the toughest player he ever faced, A.C. Milan central defender Franco Baresi
Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...
stated it was Maradona, a view shared by his Milan teammate Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...
.
Although Maradona was successful on the field during his time in Italy, his personal problems increased. His cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
use continued, and he received US$70,000 in fines from his club for missing games and practices, ostensibly because of "stress". He faced a scandal there regarding an illegitimate son
A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative.
Social issues
In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
, and he was also the object of some suspicion over an alleged friendship with the crime syndicate. He also faced intense backlash and harassment from some local fans after the 1990 World Cup, in which he and Argentina beat Italy in a semi-final match at the San Paolo stadium. In 2000, the number 10 jersey
Squad numbers are used in association football to identify and distinguish players that are on the field. Numbers very soon became a way to also indicate position, with starting players being assigned numbers 1–11, although in the modern ga ...
of Napoli was officially retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
. On 4 December 2020, nine days after Maradona's death, Napoli's home stadium was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Late career
After serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test
A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...
for cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
, Maradona left Napoli in disgrace in 1992. Despite interest from Real Madrid and Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
, he signed for Sevilla, where he stayed for one year. In 1993, he played for Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
and in 1995 returned to Boca Juniors for a two-year stint.[ Maradona also appeared for ]Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in a testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
for Osvaldo Ardiles
Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs his ...
against Internazionale, shortly before the 1986 World Cup. In 1996, he played in a friendly match alongside his brother Raul
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
for Toronto Italia
The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...
against the Canadian National Soccer League
The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...
All-Stars. In 2000 he captained Bayern Munich in a friendly against the German national team in the farewell game of Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup whe ...
. Maradona was himself given a testimonial match in November 2001, played between an all-star World XI and the Argentina national team.
International career
During his time with the Argentina national team, Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances. He made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, on 27 February 1977. Maradona was left off the Argentine squad for the 1978 World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by ...
on home soil by coach César Luis Menotti
César Luis Menotti (; born 5 November 1938), known as ''El Flaco'' ("Slim"), is an Argentine former football manager and player who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as the head coach of the Argentina national team.
During his playing days, he pl ...
who felt he was too young at age 17. At age 18, Maradona played the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, the second staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Japan from 26 August to 7 September 1979. It was the first FIFA tournament played in Asia. The tournament took place in four cities — K ...
in Japan and emerged as the star of the tournament, shining in Argentina's 3–1 final win over the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, scoring a total of six goals in six appearances in the tournament. On 2 June 1979, Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. He went on to play for Argentina in two 1979 Copa América
The 1979 edition of the Copa América association football tournament was played between 18 July and 12 December. It was not held in a particular country, all matches were played on a home and away basis. Defending champions Peru were given a bye ...
ties during August 1979, a 2–1 loss against Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and a 3–0 win over Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
in which he scored his side's third goal.
Speaking thirty years later on the impact of Maradona's performances in 1979, FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
President Sepp Blatter
Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...
stated, "Everyone has an opinion on Diego Armando Maradona, and that’s been the case since his playing days. My most vivid recollection is of this incredibly gifted kid at the second FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan in 1979. He left everyone open-mouthed every time he got on the ball." Maradona and his compatriot Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
are the only players to win the Golden Ball at both the FIFA U-20 World Cup
The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...
and FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
. Maradona did so in 1979 and 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
, which Messi emulated in 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
(and again in 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
).
1982 World Cup
Maradona played his first World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
tournament in 1982 in his new country of residence, Spain. Argentina played Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in the opening game of the 1982 Cup at the Camp Nou in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Maradona did not perform to expectations, as Argentina, the defending champions, lost 1–0. Although the team convincingly beat both Hungary and El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
in Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
to progress to the second round, there were internal tensions within the team, with the younger, less experienced players at odds with the older, more experienced players. With a team that also included such players as Mario Kempes
Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...
, Osvaldo Ardiles
Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs his ...
, Ramón Díaz
Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959) is a former Argentine Association football, footballer and the current manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal SFC, Al Hilal. He played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forw ...
, Daniel Bertoni
Ricardo Daniel Bertoni (born 14 March 1955) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a right or left winger. In Argentina, he had a successful career at Club Atlético Independiente, where he won three Copa Libertadores, one Intercontine ...
, Alberto Tarantini
Alberto César Tarantini (born 3 December 1955) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He won the 1978 FIFA World Cup with the Argentina national football team. He played as a defensive left back early in his ...
, Ubaldo Fillol
Ubaldo Matildo Fillol (; born 21 July 1950), nicknamed ''el Pato'' (in English: "the Duck"), is an Argentine football coach and former goalkeeper. He took part in the 1974, 1978 (where he won the championship with his team and was voted Best Goalk ...
, and Daniel Passarella
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
, the Argentine side was defeated in the second round by Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and by eventual winners Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The Italian match is renowned for Maradona being aggressively man-marked by Claudio Gentile
Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s.
Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...
, as Italy beat Argentina at the Sarrià Stadium
Sarrià Stadium (in Catalan: Estadi de Sarrià ; in Spanish: Estadio de Sarrià) was a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium was the home of RCD Espanyol from 1923 to 1997, and was located in the district of Sarrià.
Begi ...
in Barcelona, 2–1.
Maradona played in all five matches without being substituted, scoring twice against Hungary. He was fouled repeatedly in all five games and particularly in the last one against Brazil at the Sarrià, a game that was blighted by poor officiating and violent fouls. With Argentina already down 3–0 to Brazil, Maradona's temper eventually got the better of him and he was sent off with five minutes remaining for a serious retaliatory foul against Batista
Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include:
* Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player
* Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...
.
1986 World Cup
Maradona captained the Argentine national team to victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, winning the final in Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
against West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. Throughout the tournament, Maradona asserted his dominance and was the most dynamic player of the competition. He played every minute of every Argentina game, scoring five goals and making five assists; three of the assists came in the opening match against South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
at the Olímpico Universitario Stadium in Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. His first goal of the tournament came against Italy in the second group game in Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
. Argentina eliminated Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
in the first knockout round in Puebla, setting up a match against England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
at the Azteca Stadium
Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...
, also in Mexico City. After scoring two contrasting goals in the 2–1 quarter-final win against England, his legend was cemented. The majesty of his second goal and the notoriety of his first led to the French newspaper ''L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
'' describing Maradona as "half-angel, half-devil". This match was played with the background of the Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
between Argentina and the United Kingdom. Replays showed that the first goal was scored by striking the ball with his hand. Maradona was coyly evasive, describing it as "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". It became known as the " Hand of God". Ultimately, on 22 August 2005, Maradona acknowledged on his television show that he had hit the ball with his hand purposely, and no contact with his head was made, and that he immediately knew the goal was illegitimate. This became known as an international fiasco in World Cup history. The goal stood, much to the wrath of the English players.
Maradona's second goal, just four minutes after the hotly disputed hand-goal, was later voted by FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
as the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup. He received the ball in his own half, swivelled around and with 11 touches ran more than half the length of the field, dribbling past five English outfield players (Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999.
In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...
, Steve Hodge
Stephen Brian Hodge (born 25 October 1962) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He enjoyed a high-profile club and international career in the 1980s and 1990s, the high point being reaching the 1986 World Cup quarter fin ...
, Peter Reid
Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player.
A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...
, Terry Butcher
Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town.
During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
, and Terry Fenwick
Terence William Fenwick (born 17 November 1959) is an English football manager and former player who played either as a centre-back or a full-back.
During his playing career, he made a total of 455 appearances in the Football League for Cryst ...
) before he left goalkeeper Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...
on his backside with a feint
Feint is a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or e ...
, and slotted the ball into the net. This goal was voted "Goal of the Century
Argentina v England was a football match played on 22 June 1986 between Argentina and England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The game was held four years after the Falklands War betwee ...
" in a 2002 online poll conducted by FIFA. A 2002 Channel 4 poll in the UK saw his performance ranked number 6 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
Maradona followed this with two more goals in a semi-final match against Belgium at the Azteca, including another virtuoso dribbling display for the second goal. In the final match, West Germany attempted to contain him by double-marking, but he nevertheless found the space past the West German player Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup whe ...
to give the final pass to Jorge Burruchaga
Jorge Luis Burruchaga (; born 9 October 1962), nicknamed ''Burru'', is an Argentine association football coach and former professional football player. He played both as an attacking midfielder and forward and scored the winning goal in the fi ...
for the winning goal. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in front of 115,000 fans at the Azteca with Maradona lifting the World Cup as captain.
During the tournament, Maradona attempted or created more than half of Argentina's shots, attempted a tournament-best 90 dribbles – three times more than any other player – and was fouled a record 53 times, winning his team twice as many free kicks as any player. Maradona scored or assisted 10 of Argentina's 14 goals (71%), including the assist for the winning goal in the final, ensuring that he would be remembered as one of the greatest names in football history. By the end of the World Cup, Maradona went on to win the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament by unanimous vote and was widely regarded to have won the World Cup virtually single-handedly, something that he later stated he did not entirely agree with. Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...
, watching the 1986 World Cup as a 14-year-old, stated Maradona "was on another level". In a tribute to him, Azteca Stadium authorities built a statue of him scoring the "Goal of the Century" and placed it at the entrance of the stadium.
Regarding Maradona's performance at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, in 2014, Roger Bennett of ''ESPN FC
ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as Soc ...
'' described it as "the most virtuoso performance a World Cup has ever witnessed," while Kevin Baxter of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called it "one of the greatest individual performances in tournament history," with Steven Goff of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' dubbing his performance as "one of the finest in tournament annals." In 2002, Russell Thomas of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described Maradona's second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals as "arguably the greatest individual goal ever." In a 2009 article for ''CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...
'', John Molinaro described the goal as "the greatest ever scored in the tournament – and, maybe, in soccer." In a 2018 article for ''Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
'', he added: "No other player, not even Pel in 1958 nor Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi (; 23 September 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward. He led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and the Golden ...
in 1982, had dominated a single competition the way Maradona did in Mexico." He also went on to say of Maradona's performance: "The brilliant Argentine artist single-handedly delivered his country its second World Cup." Regarding his two memorable goals against England in the quarter-finals, he commented: "Yes, it was Maradona’s hand, and not God’s, that was responsible for the first goal against England. But while the 'Hand of God' goal remains one of the most contentious moments in World Cup history, there can be no disputing that his second goal against England ranks as the greatest ever scored in the tournament. It transcended mere sports – his goal was pure art."
1990 World Cup
Maradona captained Argentina again in the 1990 World Cup in Italy to yet another World Cup final. An ankle injury affected his overall performance, and he was much less dominant than four years earlier, and the team were missing three of their best players due to injury. After losing their opening game to Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
at the San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Argentina were almost eliminated in the first round, only qualifying in third position from their group. In the round of 16 match against Brazil in Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, Claudio Caniggia
Claudio Paul Caniggia (; born 9 January 1967) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as forward or winger. Caniggia played 50 times for the Argentina national team. He appeared in three World Cups, and was a member of both ...
scored the only goal after being set up by Maradona.
In the quarter-final, Argentina faced Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
; the match ended 0–0 after 120 minutes, with Argentina advancing in a penalty shootout even though Maradona's kick, a weak shot to the goalkeeper's right, was saved. The semi-final against the host nation Italy at Maradona's club stadium in Naples, the Stadio San Paolo, was also resolved on penalties after a 1–1 draw. This time, however, Maradona was successful with his effort, daringly rolling the ball into the net with an almost exact replica of his unsuccessful kick in the previous round. At the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Argentina lost 1–0 to West Germany, the only goal being a controversial penalty scored by Andreas Brehme
Andreas "Andy" Brehme (; born 9 November 1960) is a German football coach and former football defender. At international level, he is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina from a ...
in the 85th minute, after Rudi Völler
Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (; born 13 April 1960), nicknamed "''Tante Käthe''" ("Aunt Käthe"), is a German former professional football player and manager who serves as the sporting director for Bayer Leverkusen.
A forward, Völler won the FIFA W ...
was adjudged to be fouled.
1994 World Cup
At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Maradona played in only two games (both at the Foxboro Stadium
Foxboro Stadium, originally Schaefer Stadium and later Sullivan Stadium, was an outdoor stadium in the New England region of the United States, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It opened in 1971 and served as the home of the New England ...
near Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
), scoring one goal against Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, before being sent home after failing a drug test
A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...
for ephedrine
Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...
doping. After scoring Argentina's third goal against Greece, Maradona had one of the most remarkable World Cup goal celebration
In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst r ...
s as he ran towards one of the sideline cameras shouting with a distorted face and bulging eyes, in sheer elation of his return to international football. This turned out to be Maradona's last international goal for Argentina. In the second game, a 2–1 victory over Nigeria which was to be his last game for Argentina, he set up both of his team's goals on free kicks, the second an assist to Caniggia, in what were two very strong showings by the Argentine team.
In his autobiography, Maradona argued that the test result was due to his personal trainer giving him the energy drink Rip Fuel. His claim was that the U.S. version, unlike the Argentine one, contained the chemical and that, having run out of his Argentine dosage, his trainer unwittingly bought the U.S. formula. FIFA expelled him from USA '94, and Argentina were subsequently eliminated in the round of 16 by Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, having been a weaker team without Maradona, even with players like Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, ...
and Caniggia on the squad. Maradona also separately claimed that he had an agreement with FIFA, on which the organization reneged, to allow him to use the drug for weight loss before the competition in order to be able to play. His failed drug test at the 1994 World Cup signalled the end of his international career, which lasted 17 years and yielded 34 goals from 91 games, including one winner's medal and one runners-up medal in the World Cup.
Alongside official internationals, Maradona also played and scored for an Argentina XI against the World XI
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 1978 to mark the first anniversary of their first World Cup win,[ scored for The Americas against the World in a ]UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
fundraiser a short time after the 1986 triumph, a year after that captained the 'Rest of the World' against the English Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976.
For a long period the annual fixture b ...
to celebrate the organisation's centenary (after reportedly securing a £100,000 appearance fee) and was on the scoresheet for the Argentina XI once more in his own 'farewell match' in 2001.
Player profile
Style of play
Described as a " classic number 10" in the media, Maradona was a traditional playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...
who usually played in a free role, either as an attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
behind the forwards, or as a second striker
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
in a front–two, although he was also deployed as an offensive–minded central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in a 4–4–2 formation on occasion. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "''El Pibe de Oro'' ("The Golden Boy"), a name that stuck with him throughout his career. He was renowned for his dribbling ability, vision, close ball control, passing, and creativity, and is considered to have been one of the most skilful players in the sport. He had a compact physique, and with his strong legs, low center of gravity, and resulting balance, he could withstand physical pressure well while running with the ball, despite his small stature,["From spectacular to scandalous: Maradona's World Cup legacy"](_blank)
ESPN. Retrieved 14 May 2014 while his acceleration, quick feet, and agility, combined with his dribbling skills and close control at speed, allowed him to change direction quickly, making him difficult for opponents to defend against.
On his dribbling ability, former Dutch player Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
saw similarities between Maradona and Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
with the ball seemingly attached to their boot. His physical strengths were illustrated by his two goals against Belgium in the 1986 World Cup. Although he was known for his penchant for undertaking individual runs with the ball, he was also a strategist and an intelligent team player, with excellent spatial awareness, as well as being highly technical with the ball. He was effective in limited spaces, and would attract defenders only to quickly dash out of the melee (as in the second goal against England in 1986), or give an assist
Assist or ASSIST may refer to:
Sports
Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team:
*Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...
to a free teammate. Being short, but strong, he could hold the ball long enough with a defender on his back to wait for a teammate making a run or to find a gap for a quick shot. He showed leadership qualities on the field and captained Argentina in their World Cup campaigns of 1986, 1990, and 1994. While he was primarily a creative playmaker, Maradona was also known for his finishing and goalscoring ability. Former Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach. He has twice managed AC Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European ...
also praised Maradona for his defensive work-rate off the ball in a 2010 interview with '' Il Corriere dello Sport''.
The team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...
on and off the field – he would speak up on a range of issues on behalf of the players – Maradona's ability as a player and his overpowering personality had a major positive effect on his team, with his 1986 World Cup teammate Jorge Valdano
Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosophe ...
stating:
Lauding the "charisma" of Maradona, another of his Argentina teammates, prolific striker Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, ...
, stated, "Diego could command a stadium, have everyone watch him. I played with him and I can tell you how technically decisive he was for the team". Napoli's former president – Corrado Ferlaino – commented on Maradona's leadership qualities during his time with the club in 2008, describing him as "a coach on the pitch."
One of Maradona's trademark moves was dribbling full-speed on the right wing, and on reaching the opponent's goal line, delivering accurate passes to his teammates. Another trademark was the ''rabona
In association football, the rabona is the technique of kicking the football where the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg.
There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a right ...
'', a reverse-cross pass shot behind the leg that holds all the weight. This manoeuvre led to several assists, such as the cross for Ramón Díaz
Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959) is a former Argentine Association football, footballer and the current manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal SFC, Al Hilal. He played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forw ...
's header against Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in 1980. Moreover, he was also a well–known proponent of the ''roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
'', a feint which involved him dragging the ball back first with one foot and then the other, while simultaneously performing a 360° turn; due to his penchant for using this move, it has even occasionally been described as the "Maradona turn" in the media. He was also a dangerous free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...
and penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
taker, who was renowned for his ability to bend the ball from corners and direct set pieces
"Set Pieces" is the first EP release by Canadian indie band Braids
A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. ...
. Regarded as one of the best dead-ball specialists of all time,[. FIFA.com. Retrieved 20 May 2014] his free kick technique, which often saw him raise his knee at a high angle when striking the ball, thus enabling him to lift it high over the wall, allowed him to score free kicks even from close range, within 22 to 17 yards (20 to 16 metres) from the goal, or even just outside the penalty area. His style of taking free kicks influenced several other specialists, including Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea.
He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...
, Andrea Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...
, and Lionel Messi.
Maradona was famous for his cunning personality. Some critics view his controversial " Hand of God" goal at the 1986 World Cup as a clever manoeuvre, with one of the opposition players, Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
, admitting that Maradona had disguised it by flicking his head at the same time as palming the ball. The goal itself has been viewed as an embodiment of the Buenos Aires shanty town Maradona was brought up in and its concept of ''viveza criolla''—"cunning of the criollos
In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majo ...
". Although critical of the illegitimate first goal, England striker Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
conceded, "When Diego scored that second goal against us, I felt like applauding. It was impossible to score such a beautiful goal. He's the greatest player of all time, by a long way. A genuine phenomenon." Maradona used his hand in the 1990 World Cup, again without punishment, and this time on his own goal line, to prevent the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
from scoring. A number of publications have referred to Maradona as the Artful Dodger
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...
, the urchin pickpocket from Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' ''Oliver Twist''.
Maradona was dominantly left-footed, often using his left foot even when the ball was positioned more suitably for a right-footed connection. His first goal against Belgium in the 1986 World Cup semi-final is a worthy indicator of such; he had run into the inside right channel to receive a pass but let the ball travel across to his left foot, requiring more technical ability. During his run past several England players in the previous round for the "Goal of the Century" he did not use his right foot once, despite spending the whole movement on the right-hand side of the pitch. In the 1990 World Cup second-round tie against Brazil, he used his right foot to set up the winning goal for Claudio Caniggia due to two Brazilian markers forcing him into a position that made use of his left foot less practical.
Reception
Maradona is widely regarded as the best player of his generation. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time by pundits, players, and managers, and by some as the best player ever. Known as one of the most skillful players in the game, he is regarded as one of the greatest dribblers and free kick takers in history. A precocious talent in his youth, in addition to his playing ability, Maradona also drew praise from his former manager Menotti for his dedication, determination, and the work-ethic he demonstrated in order to improve the technical aspect of his game in training, despite his natural gifts, with the manager noting: "I'm always cautious about using the word 'genius'. I find it hard to apply that even to Mozart. The beauty of Diego's game has a hereditary element – his natural ease with the ball – but it also owes a lot to his ability to learn: a lot of those brushstrokes, those strokes of 'genius', are in fact a product of his hard work. Diego worked very hard to be the best." Maradona's former Napoli manager – Ottavio Bianchi – also praised his discipline in training, commenting: "Diego is different to the one that they depict. When you got him on his own he was a very good kid. It was beautiful to watch him and coach him. They all speak of the fact that he did not train, but it was not true because Diego was the last person to leave the pitch, it was necessary to send him away because otherwise he would stay for hours to invent free kicks." However, although, as Bianchi noted, Maradona was known for making "great plays" and doing "unimaginable" and "incredible things" with the ball during training sessions, and would even go through periods of rigorous exercise, he was equally known for his limited work-rate in training without the ball, and even gained a degree of infamy during his time in Italy for missing training sessions with Napoli, while he often trained independently instead of with his team.
In a 2019 documentary film on his life, ''Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
'', Maradona confessed that his weekly regime consisted of "playing a game on Sunday, going out until Wednesday, then hitting the gym on Thursday." Regarding his inconsistent training regimen, the film's director, Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker.
Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...
, commented in 2020: "He had a metabolism
Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
. He would look so incredibly out of shape, but then he’d train like crazy and sweat it off by the time matchday came along. His body shape just didn’t look like a footballer, but then he had this ability and this balance. He had a way of being, and that idea of talking to him honestly about how a typical week transpired was pretty amazing." He also revealed that Maradona was ahead of his time in the fact that he had a personal fitness coach – Fernando Signorini – who trained him in a variety of areas, in addition to looking after his physical conditioning, adding: "While he aradonawas in a football team he had his own regime. How many players would do that? How many players would even know to think like that? 'I’m different to anyone else so I need to train at what I’m good at and what I’m weak at.' Signorini is very well read and very intelligent. He would literally say, 'This is the way I’m going to train you, read this book.' He would help him psychologically, talk to him about philosophy, and things like that." Moreover, Maradona was notorious for his poor diet and extreme lifestyle off the pitch, including his use of illicit drugs and alcohol abuse, which along with personal issues, his metabolism, medication that he was prescribed, and periods of inactivity due to injuries and suspensions, led to his significant weight–gain and physical decline as his career progressed; his lack of discipline and difficulties in his turbulent personal life are thought by some in the sport to have negatively impacted his performances and longevity in the later years of his playing career.
A controversial figure in the sport, while he earned critical acclaim from players, pundits, and managers over his playing style, he also drew criticism in the media for his temper and confrontational behaviour, both on and off the pitch. However, in 2005, Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...
, described Maradona both as the greatest player he ever faced, and also as the most honest, stating: "He was a model of good behaviour on the pitch – he was respectful of everyone, from the great players down to the ordinary team member. He was always getting kicked around and he never complained – not like some of today's strikers." Franco Baresi
Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...
stated when he was asked who was his greatest opponent: "Maradona; when he was on form, there was almost no way of stopping him," while fellow former Italy defender Giuseppe Bergomi
Giuseppe Bergomi (; born 22 December 1963) is an Italian former professional footballer who spent his entire career at Inter Milan. He is regarded as one of the greatest Italian defenders of all time, and as one of the best of his generation, be ...
described Maradona as the greatest player of all time in 2018. Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...
said that his off-field antics did not matter, and that he should only be judged for the impact he made on the field. "For me Maradona is more than football. What he did as a footballer, in my opinion, he will be remembered forever. When you see number 10 who do you think about? Maradona. It is a symbol, even today there are those who choose that number for him."
In 1999, Maradona was placed second behind Pelé by ''World Soccer'' in the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century". Along with Pelé, Maradona was one of the two joint winners of the "FIFA Player of the Century" award in 2000, and also placed fifth in "IFFHS
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
' Century Elections". In a 2014 FIFA poll, Maradona was voted the second-greatest number 10 of all-time, behind only Pelé, and later that year, was ranked second in ''The Guardian''s list of the 100 greatest World Cup players of all-time, ahead of the 2014 World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
in Brazil, once again behind Pelé. In 2017, ''FourFourTwo'' ranked him in first place in their list of "100 greatest players", while in 2018, he was ranked in first place by the same magazine in their list of the "Greatest Football Players in World Cup History"; in March 2020, he was also ranked first by Jack Gallagher of '' 90min.com'' in their list of "Top 50 Greatest Players of All Time". In May 2020, Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
ranked Maradona as the best player never to have won the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
/European Cup.
Retirement and tributes
Hounded for years by the press, Maradona once fired a compressed-air rifle at reporters whom he claimed were invading his privacy. This quote from former teammate Jorge Valdano
Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosophe ...
summarizes the feelings of many:
In 1990, the Konex Foundation
Konex Foundation (''Fundación Konex'')is an Argentine cultural non-profit organization created in 1980 ''to promote, stimulate, help, and participate in any form of cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific ...
from Argentina granted him the Diamond Konex Award
Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities.
History and purpose
Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The pur ...
, one of the most prestigious culture awards in Argentina, as the most important personality in Sports in the last decade in his country.
In April 1996, Maradona had a three-round exhibition boxing match with Santos Laciar
Santos Benigno Laciar (born January 31, 1959), known familiarly as Santos Laciar and nicknamed Falucho, is an Argentine who was boxing's world flyweight and super flyweight champion.
Biography
Laciar was born in Huinca Renancó, in the province ...
for charity. In 2000, Maradona published his autobiography ''Yo Soy El Diego'' ("I am ''The Diego''"), which became a best-seller in Argentina. Two years later, Maradona donated the Cuban royalties of his book to "the Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n people and Fidel
Fidel most commonly refers to:
* Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Cuban communist revolutionary and politician
* Fidel Ramos (1928–2022), Filipino politician and former president
Fidel may also refer to:
Other persons
* Fidel (given name)
Film
* ...
".
In 2000, he won FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
award which was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet-based poll, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
. In spite of this, and shortly before the ceremony, FIFA added a second award and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of football journalists that also gave to Pelé the title of best player of the century to make it a draw. Maradona also came fifth in the vote of the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics). In 2001, the Argentine Football Association
The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...
(AFA) asked FIFA for authorization to retire
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
the jersey number
In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...
10 for Maradona. FIFA did not grant the request, even though Argentine officials have maintained that FIFA hinted that it would.
Maradona has topped a number of fan polls, including a 2002 FIFA poll in which his second goal against England was chosen as the best goal ever scored in a World Cup; he also won the most votes in a poll to determine the All-Time Ultimate World Cup Team. On 22 March 2010, Maradona was chosen number 1 in 'The Greatest 10 World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
Players of All Time' by the London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based newspaper ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
named its stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
after Maradona on 26 December 2003. In 2003, Maradona was employed by the Libyan footballer Al-Saadi Gaddafi
Al-Saadi Muammar Gaddafi , also spelt as Al-Saadi Moammer Al-Gaddafi ( ar, الساعدي معمر القذافي; born 25 May 1973) is a Libyan retired professional football player. He captained the national team, but his career was widely att ...
, the third son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
, as a "technical consultant", while Al-Saadi was playing for the Italian club, Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
, which was playing in Serie A at the time.
On 22 June 2005, it was announced that Maradona would return to former club Boca Juniors as a sports vice-president in charge of managing the First Division roster (after a disappointing 2004–05 season, which coincided with Boca's centenary). His contract began 1 August 2005, and one of his first recommendations proved to be very effective: advising the club to hire Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach
* Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor
* Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor
* Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer
* Alfio Fazio, Italian ...
as the new coach. With Maradona fostering a close relationship with the players, Boca won the 2005 Apertura
The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...
, the 2006 Clausura
The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...
, the 2005 Copa Sudamericana, and the 2005 Recopa Sudamericana.
On 15 August 2005, Maradona made his debut as host of a talk-variety show on Argentine television, La Noche del 10 La Noche del 10 was an Argentine television show hosted by football player Diego Maradona which aired for one season in 2005.
On 15 August 2005, Maradona made his debut as host with Pelé his main guest on opening night; the two had a friendly c ...
("The Night of the no. 10"). His main guest on opening night was Pelé; the two had a friendly chat, showing no signs of past differences. However, the show also included a cartoon villain with a clear physical resemblance to Pelé. In subsequent evenings, he led the ratings on all occasions but one. Most guests were drawn from the worlds of football and show business, including Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
and Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...
, but also included interviews with other notable friends and personalities such as Cuban leader Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
and boxers Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...
and Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
. Maradona gave each of his guests a signed Argentina jersey, which Tyson wore when he arrived in Brazil, Argentina's biggest rivals. In November 2005, however, Maradona rejected an offer to work with Argentina's national football team.
In May 2006, Maradona agreed to take part in UK's Soccer Aid
''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between t ...
(a program to raise money for UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
). In September 2006, Maradona, in his famous blue and white number 10, was the captain for Argentina in a three-day World Cup of Indoor Football tournament in Spain. On 26 August 2006, it was announced that Maradona was quitting his position in the club Boca Juniors because of disagreements with the AFA, who selected Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach
* Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor
* Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor
* Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer
* Alfio Fazio, Italian ...
to be the new coach of the Argentina national team. In 2008, Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...
made '' Maradona'', a documentary about Maradona's life.
On 1 September 2014, Maradona, along with many current and former footballing stars, took part in the "Match for Peace", which was played at the Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
in Rome, with the proceeds being donated entirely to charity. Maradona set up a goal for Roberto Baggio during the first half of the match, with a chipped through-ball over the defence with the outside of his left foot. Unusually, both Baggio and Maradona wore the number 10 shirt, despite playing on the same team. On 17 August 2015, Maradona visited Ali Bin Nasser
Ali Ben Nasser (also spelled Ali Bennaceur, ar, علي بن ناصر; born 2 March 1944) is a Tunisian former football referee.
1986 FIFA World Cup
Argentina-England refereeing dispute
Nasser refereed the match between Argentina and England i ...
, the Tunisian referee of the Argentina–England quarter-final match at the 1986 World Cup where Maradona scored his Hand of God, and paid tribute to him by giving him a signed Argentine jersey.
Managerial career
Club management
Maradona began his managerial career alongside former Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...
midfield teammate Carlos Fren. The pair led Mandiyú of Corrientes
Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...
in 1994 and Racing Club in 1995, with little success. In May 2011 he became manager of Dubai club Al Wasl FC
Al Wasl Football Club ( ar, نادي الوصل لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Dubai, that competes in the United Arab Emirates Football League. It is a part of the multi-sports club Al Wasl SC. Arge ...
in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
.
Maradona was sacked on 10 July 2012. In August 2013, Maradona moved on to become 'spiritual coach' at Argentine club Deportivo Riestra
Deportivo Riestra Asociación de Fomento Barrio Colón, also known as Deportivo Riestra, is an Argentine sports club from Buenos Aires. The club is mainly focused on football, with the senior squad currently playing in Primera B Nacional, the s ...
. Maradona departed this role in 2017 to become the head coach of Fujairah
Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...
, in the UAE second division
UAE First Division League is the second tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates.
As of 2020–21, the league features 15 sides who play each other in a home and away round-robin format, with a total of 28 games for each ...
, before leaving at the end of the season upon failure to secure promotion at the club. In May 2018, Maradona was announced as the new chairman of Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
ian club Dynamo Brest.[.. Retrieved 23 July 2018] He arrived in Brest and was presented by the club to start his duties in July. In September 2018, he was appointed manager of Mexican second division side Dorados
Dorados de Sinaloa, or Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club based on Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
History
Dorados de Sinaloa was founded on August 9, 2003. The Dorados was the youngest team to play on First Division de México, hav ...
. He made his debut with Dorados on 17 September with a 4–1 victory over Cafetaleros de Tapachula
Club de Fútbol Cafetaleros de Chiapas is a Mexican football club based in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas currently competing in Liga Premier de México, the third tier of Mexican football. Between 2015 and 2020, the team played at Asc ...
. On 13 June 2019, after Dorados failed to clinch promotion to the Mexican top flight, Maradona's lawyer announced that he would be stepping down from the role, citing health reasons.
On 5 September 2019, Maradona was unveiled as the new head coach of Gimnasia de La Plata, signing a contract until the end of the season. After two months in charge he left the club on 19 November. However, two days later, Maradona rejoined the club as manager saying that "we finally achieved political unity in the club". Maradona insisted that Gabriel Pellegrino remain club president if he were to stay with Gimnasia de La Plata. However it was still not clear if Pellegrino, who declined to run for re-election, would stay on as club President. Originally scheduled to be held on 23 November, the election was delayed 15 days. On 15 December, Pellegrino, who was encouraged by Maradona to seek re-election, was re-elected to a three-year term. Despite having a bad record during the 2019–20 season, Gimnasia renewed Maradona's contract on 3 June 2020 for the 2020–21 season. In November 2020, Maradona died in post. His coaching staff resigned from the club following his death.
International management
After the resignation of Argentina national team coach Alfio Basile in 2008, Maradona immediately proposed his candidacy for the vacant role. According to several press sources, his major challengers included; Diego Simeone
Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011.
In his cl ...
, Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Arcesio Bianchi (born 26 April 1949), nicknamed ''El Virrey'' (''The Viceroy''), is an Argentine former football player and manager. A prolific goalscorer, although he had a bright career as a forward in Argentina and France, Bianchi is b ...
, Miguel Ángel Russo
Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of Rosario Central.
Playing career
Club career
Russo was a one club man; ...
, and Sergio Batista
Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player.
As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...
. On 29 October 2008, AFA chairman Julio Grondona
Julio Humberto Grondona (September 18, 1931 – July 30, 2014) was an Argentine football executive. He served as president of the Argentine Football Association (''Asociación del Fútbol Argentino'') from 1979 until his death in 2014. He also se ...
confirmed that Maradona would be the head coach of the national team. On 19 November, Maradona managed Argentina for the first time when they played against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, which Argentina won 1–0.
After winning his first three matches as the coach of the national team, he oversaw a 6–1 defeat to Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, equalling the team's worst ever margin of defeat. With two matches remaining in the qualification tournament for the 2010 World Cup, Argentina was in fifth place and faced the possibility of failing to qualify, but victory in the last two matches secured qualification for the finals. After Argentina's qualification, Maradona used abusive language at the live post-game press conference, telling members of the media to "suck it and keep on sucking it". FIFA responded with a two-month ban on all footballing activity, which expired on 15 January 2010, and a CHF 25,000 fine, with a warning as to his future conduct. The friendly match scheduled to take place at home to the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
on 15 December, during the period of the ban, was cancelled. The only match Argentina played during Maradona's ban was a friendly away to Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, which they lost 4–2.
At the World Cup finals in June 2010, Argentina started by winning 1–0 against Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, followed by a 4–1 victory over South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
on the strength of a Gonzalo Higuaín
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Pipita'' or ''Pipa'', Higuaín was a prolific striker, known for his eye for goal, strong physique, and o ...
hat-trick. In the final match of the group stage, Argentina won 2–0 against Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
to win the group and advance to a second round, meeting Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. After defeating Mexico 3–1, however, Argentina was routed by Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
4–0 in the quarter-finals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
to go out of the competition. Argentina was ranked fifth in the tournament. After the defeat to Germany, Maradona admitted that he was reconsidering his future as Argentina's coach, stating, "I may leave tomorrow." On 15 July, the AFA said that he would be offered a new four-year deal that would keep him in charge through to the summer of 2014 when Brazil staged the World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. On 27 July, however, the AFA announced that its board had unanimously decided not to renew his contract, and instead awarded the job to 1978 World Cup winning captain and his 1986 teammate, Daniel Passarella
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
. Afterwards, on 29 July, Maradona claimed that AFA president Julio Grondona
Julio Humberto Grondona (September 18, 1931 – July 30, 2014) was an Argentine football executive. He served as president of the Argentine Football Association (''Asociación del Fútbol Argentino'') from 1979 until his death in 2014. He also se ...
and director of national teams (as well as his former Argentine national team and Sevilla coach) Carlos Bilardo
Carlos Salvador Bilardo Digiano (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager.
Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina ...
had "lied to", "betrayed", and effectively sacked him from the role. He said, "They wanted me to continue, but seven of my staff should not go on, if he told me that, it meant he did not want me to keep working."
Personal life
Family
Born to a Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
family, his parents were Diego Maradona Senior and Dalma Salvadora Franco. Maradona married long-time fiancée Claudia Villafañe on 7 November 1989 in Buenos Aires, and they had two daughters, Dalma Nerea (born 2 April 1987) and Gianinna Dinorah (born 16 May 1989), by whom he became a grandfather in 2009 after she married Sergio Agüero
Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...
(now divorced).
Maradona and Villafañe divorced in 2004. Daughter Dalma has since asserted that the divorce was the best solution for all as her parents remained on friendly terms. They travelled together to Naples for a series of homages in June 2005 and were seen together on other occasions, including the Argentina games during 2006 World Cup. During the divorce proceedings, Maradona admitted that he was the father of Diego Sinagra (born in Naples on 20 September 1986). The Italian courts had already ruled so in 1993, after Maradona refused to undergo DNA tests
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
to prove or disprove his paternity. Diego Junior met Maradona for the first time in May 2003 after tricking his way onto a golf course in Italy where Maradona was playing. Sinagra is now a footballer playing in Italy.
After the divorce, Claudia embarked on a career as a theatre producer, and Dalma sought an acting career; she previously had expressed her desire to attend the Actors Studio West in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Maradona's relationship with his immediate family was a close one. In a 1990 interview with ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' he showed phone bills where he had spent a minimum of $15,000 US per month calling his parents and siblings. Maradona's mother, Dalma, died on 19 November 2011. He was in Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
at the time, and desperately tried to fly back in time to see her, but was too late. She was 81 years old. His father, "Don" Diego, died on 25 June 2015 at age 87.
In 2014, Maradona was accused of assaulting his girlfriend, Rocío Oliva, allegations which he denied. In 2017, he gifted her a house in Bella Vista, but in December 2018 they split up. Maradona's great-nephew Hernán López is also a professional footballer.
Drug abuse and health problems
From the mid-1980s until 2004, Maradona was addicted to cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
. He allegedly began using the drug in Barcelona in 1983. By the time he was playing for Napoli, he had a full-blown addiction, which interfered with his ability to play football. In the midst of his drug crisis in 1991, Maradona was asked by journalists if the hit song "Mi enfermedad
"Mi enfermedad" (lit. "My Disease") is a song written by Argentine singer-songwriter Andres Calamaro, originally recorded and released as a single separately by the Argentine rock singer Fabiana Cantilo 1991 and Calamaro's Spanish-Argentine band L ...
" (lit. "My Disease") was dedicated to him. Maradona was banned from football in both 1991 and 1994 for abusing drugs.
Maradona had a tendency to put on weight and suffered increasingly from obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
, at one point weighing . He was obese from the end of his playing career until undergoing gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...
in a clinic in Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...
, Colombia, on 6 March 2005. His surgeon said that Maradona would follow a liquid diet
A liquid diet is a diet that mostly consists of liquids, or soft "foods" that melt at room temperature (such as ice cream). A liquid diet usually helps provide sufficient hydration, helps maintain electrolyte balance, and is often prescribed fo ...
for three months in order to return to his normal weight. When Maradona resumed public appearances shortly thereafter, he displayed a notably thinner figure.
On 29 March 2007, Maradona was readmitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires. He was treated for hepatitis
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
and effects of alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-relat ...
and was released on 11 April, but readmitted two days later. In the following days, there were constant rumours about his health, including three false claims of his death within a month. After being transferred to a psychiatric clinic specializing in alcohol-related problems, Maradona was discharged on 7 May. On 8 May, Maradona appeared on Argentine television and stated that he had quit drinking and had not used drugs in two and a half years. During the 2018 World Cup match between Argentina and Nigeria, Maradona was shown on television cameras behaving extremely erratically, with an abundance of white residue visible on the glass in front of his seat in the stands. The smudges could have been fingerprints, and he later blamed his behaviour on consuming lots of wine. In January 2019, Maradona underwent surgery after a hernia
A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...
caused internal bleeding
Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...
in his stomach.
Political views
Maradona showed sympathy to left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
ideologies. He supported the establishment of an independent Palestinian state
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PL ...
and condemned Israel's military strikes in the Gaza Strip during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, saying: "What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is shameful." He became friends with Cuban leader Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
while receiving treatment on the island, with Castro stating, "Diego is a great friend and very noble, too. There's also no question he’s a wonderful athlete and has maintained a friendship with Cuba to no material gain of his own." Maradona had a portrait of Castro tattooed on his left leg and one of Fidel's second in command, fellow Argentine Che Guevara on his right arm. In his autobiography, ''El Diego'', he dedicated the book to various people, including Castro. He wrote, "To Fidel Castro and, through him, all the Cubans, Cuban people."
Maradona voiced support for Bolivia's president Evo Morales and was also a supporter of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In 2005, he came to Venezuela to meet Chávez, who received him in the presidential Miraflores Palace. After the meeting, Maradona said that he had come to meet a "great man" (''un grande'', which can also mean "a big man", in Spanish), but had instead met a gigantic man (''un gigante''). He also stated, "I believe in Chávez, I am a Chavista. Everything Fidel does, everything Chávez does, for me is the best." Maradona was Chávez's guest of honour at the opening game of the 2007 Copa América held in Venezuela.
In 2004, Maradona participated in a protest against the U.S.-led Iraq War, war in Iraq. Maradona declared his opposition to what he identified as imperialism, particularly during the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas, Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. There he protested George W. Bush's presence in Argentina, wearing a T-shirt labelled "" (with the "s" in "Bush" being replaced with a swastika) and referring to Bush as "human garbage". In August 2007, Maradona went further, making an appearance on Chávez's weekly television show ''Aló Presidente'' and saying, "I hate everything that comes from the United States. I hate it with all my strength." By December 2008, however, Maradona had adopted a more pro-U.S. attitude and expressed admiration for Bush's successor, then-President-elect Barack Obama, for whom he had great expectations.
With his poor shanty town (villa miseria) upbringing, Maradona cultivated a man-of-the-people persona. During a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican City, Vatican in 1987, they clashed on the issue of wealth disparity, with Maradona stating, "I argued with him because I was in the Vatican and I saw all these golden ceilings and afterwards I heard the Pope say the Church was worried about the welfare of poor kids. Sell your ceiling then, amigo, do something!" In September 2014, Maradona met with Pope Francis in Rome, crediting Francis for inspiring him to return to religion after many years away; he stated, "We should all imitate Pope Francis. If each one of us gives something to someone else, no one in the world would be starving."
In December 2007, Maradona presented a signed shirt with a message of support to the people of Iran: it is displayed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' museum. In April 2013, Maradona visited the tomb of Hugo Chávez and urged Venezuelans to elect the late leader's designated successor, Nicolás Maduro, to continue the socialist leader's legacy; "Continue the struggle," Maradona said on television. Maradona attended Maduro's final campaign rally in Caracas, signing footballs and kicking them to the crowd, and presented Maduro with an Argentina jersey. Having visited Chávez's tomb with Maradona, Maduro said, "Speaking with Diego was very emotional because comandante Chávez also loved him very much." Maradona participated and danced at the electoral campaign rally during the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election, 2018 presidential elections in Venezuela. During the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, the Mexican Football Federation fined him for violating their code of ethics and dedicating a team victory to Nicolás Maduro.
Maradona in his 2000 autobiography ''Yo Soy El Diego'', linked the " Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup to the Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
: "Although we had said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas [Falklands] War, we knew they had killed a lot of Argentine boys there, killed them like little birds. And this was revenge." In October 2015, Maradona thanked Queen Elizabeth II and the Palace of Westminster, Houses of Parliament in London for giving him the chance to provide "true justice" as head of an organization designed to help young children. In a video released on his official Facebook page, Maradona confirmed he would accept their nomination for him to become Latin Americans, Latin American director for the non-governmental organization Football for Unity.
Failure to pay tax
In March 2009, Italian officials announced that Maradona still owed the Italian government €37 million in local taxes, €23.5 million of which was accrued interest on his original debt. They reported that at that point, Maradona had paid only €42,000, two luxury watches and a set of earrings.
Death
On 2 November 2020, Maradona was admitted to a hospital in La Plata, supposedly for psychological reasons. A representative of the ex-footballer said his condition was not serious. A day later, he underwent emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma. He was released on 12 November after successful surgery and was supervised by doctors as an outpatient. On 25 November, at the age of 60, Maradona suffered cardiac arrest and died in his sleep at his home in Dique Luján, Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
, Argentina. Maradona's coffin – draped in Flag of Argentina, Argentina's national flag and three Maradona number 10 shirts (Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors and Argentina) – lying in state, lay in state at the Presidential Palace, the Casa Rosada, with mourners filing past his coffin. On 26 November, Maradona's wake, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, was cut short by his family as his coffin was relocated from the rotunda of the Presidential Palace after fans took over an inner courtyard and also clashed with police. The same day, a private funeral service was held and Maradona was buried next to his parents at the Jardín de Bella Vista cemetery in Bella Vista, Buenos Aires.
Tributes
In a statement on social media, the Argentine Football Association
The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...
expressed "its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend", adding: "You will always be in our hearts." President Alberto Fernández announced three days of national mourning. UEFA and CONMEBOL announced that every match in the Champions League, Europa League, Copa Libertadores, and Copa Sudamericana would hold a moment of silence prior to kickoff. Boca Juniors' game was postponed in respect to Maradona. Subsequently, other confederations around the world followed suit, with every fixture observing a minute of silence, starting with the 2020 AFC Champions League's fixtures. In addition to the minute of silence in Serie A, an image of Maradona was projected on stadium screens in the 10th minute of play.
In Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, the Stadio San Paolo—officially renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on 4 December 2020—was illuminated at night in honour of Maradona, with numerous fans gathering outside the stadium placing murals and paintings as a tribute. Both Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis and the mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris (politician), Luigi de Magistris expressed their desire to rename their stadium after Maradona, which was unanimously approved by Naples City Council. Prior to Napoli's 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, Europa League match against HNK Rijeka, Rijeka the day after Maradona's death, all of the Napoli players wore shirts with "Maradona 10" on the back of them, before observing a minute of silence. Figures in the sport from every continent around the world also paid tribute to him. Celebrities and other sports people outside football also paid tribute to Maradona.
On 27 November 2020, the Aditya School of Sports in Barasat, Kolkata, India named their cricket stadium after Maradona. Three years earlier Maradona had conducted a workshop with 100 kids in the stadium and played a charity match at the same venue with former Indian cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly. The AFA announced that the 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional, which is the debut season of Copa de la Liga Profesional, would be renamed ''Copa Diego Armando Maradona''. On 28 November, Pakistan Football Federation, Pakistan Football Federation's main cup PFF National Challenge Cup honoured Maradona along with Wali Mohammad. In a rugby union test match between Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina and New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand on 28 November, as the New Zealand team lined up to perform the haka their captain Sam Cane presented a black jersey with Maradona's name and his number 10. On 29 November, compatriot Lionel Messi scored in Barcelona's 4–0 home win over CA Osasuna, Osasuna in La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
, dedicating his goal to Maradona by revealing a Newell's Old Boys shirt worn by the latter under his own, and subsequently pointing to the sky.
On 30 November, after Boca Juniors opened the scoring against Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
at La Bombonera
The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands rou ...
, the club's players paid an emotional tribute by laying a Maradona jersey in front of his private suite where his daughter Dalma was present.
Aftermath
In May 2021, seven medical professionals were charged with homicide over Maradona's death, in violation of their duties, and could face between 8 and 25 years in prison if convicted. On 25 June, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov was summoned by the Prosecution Office of San Isidro, Buenos Aires, San Isidro and faced a formal questioning, where she agreed to answer more than 100 queries regarding the medical treatment given to Maradona in that medical field. After seven hours of questioning, Cosachov's lawyer Vadim Mischanchuk addressed the press and denied that Cosachov's prescription medication could have worsened Maradona's heart condition, and Cosachov further denied any responsibility in the death. On 28 June, multiple arrest warrants were requested by a plaintiff lawyer against Cosachov, personal doctor Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Díaz, and doctor Nancy Forlini in direct connection with Maradona's alleged negligent death. On 1 July, the prosecutors in the case refused to ask a judge to issue arrest warrants against all the aforementioned professionals, on the basis that they considered the request had been a media stunt ("incursión mediática") for the case, coinciding with personal doctor Luque's interrogation.
In June 2022, a judge ruled that eight medical personnel should face trial for criminal negligence and homicide in regards to Maradona's death.
In popular culture
The American newspaper ''Standard-Examiner'' wrote of Maradona:
In Argentina, Maradona is considered an icon. Concerning the idolatry that exists in his country, former teammate Jorge Valdano
Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosophe ...
said, "At the time that Maradona retired from active football, he left Argentina traumatized. Maradona was more than just a great footballer. He was a special compensation factor for a country that in a few years lived through several Dirty War, military dictatorships and social frustrations of all kinds." Valdano added that "Maradona offered to Argentines a way out of their collective frustration, and that's why people there love him as a divine figure." In leading his nation to the 1986 World Cup, and in particular his performance and two goals in the quarter-final against England, Guillem Balagué writes: "That Sunday in Mexico City, the world saw one man single-handedly – in more than one sense of the phrase – lift the mood of a depressed and downtrodden nation into the stratosphere. With two goals in the space of four minutes, he allowed them to dare to dream that they, like him, could be the best in the world. He did it first by nefarious and then spellbindingly brilliant means. In those moments, he went from star player to legend."
Since 1986, it has been common for Argentines abroad to hear Maradona's name as a token of recognition, even in remote places.[ The Tartan Army sing a version of the Hokey Cokey in honour of the The hand of God, Hand of God goal against England. In Argentina, Maradona is often talked about in terms reserved for legends. In the Argentine film ''Son of the Bride, El hijo de la novia'' ("Son of the Bride"), somebody who impersonates a Priest#Catholic and Orthodox, Catholic priest says to a bar patron, "They idolized him and then crucified him." When a friend scolds him for taking the prank too far, the fake priest retorts, "But I was talking about Maradona." He is the subject of the film ''El camino de San Diego'', though he himself only appears in archive footage.
Maradona was included in many cameo appearance, cameos in the Argentine comic book ''El Cazador de Aventuras''. After the closing of it, the authors started a new short-lived comic book titled ''El Die'', using Maradona as the main character. Maradona has had several online Flash games that are entirely dedicated to his legacy. In Rosario, Santa Fe, Rosario, Argentina, locals organized the parody religion of the "Iglesia Maradoniana, Church of Maradona". The organization reformulates many elements from Christian tradition, such as Christmas or prayers, reflecting instead details from Maradona. It had 200 founding members, and tens of thousands more have become members via the church's official web site.
]
Many Argentine artists performed songs in tribute to Diego, such as "La Mano de Dios" by Rodrigo Bueno, El Potro Rodrigo, "Maradona" by Andrés Calamaro, "Para siempre Diego" (Diego Forever) by Los Ratones Paranoicos, "Francotirador" (Sniper) by Attaque 77, "Maradona Blues" by Charly García, "Santa Maradona" (Saint Maradona) by Mano Negra (band), Mano Negra, and "La Vida Tómbola" by Manu Chao, among others. There are also other films, such as: ''Maradona, La Mano de Dios'' (Maradona, the Hand of God), ''Amando a Maradona'' (Loving Maradona), and ''Maradona by Kusturica''.
By 1982, Maradona had become one of the biggest sports stars in the world and had endorsements with many companies, including Puma SE, Puma and Coca-Cola, earning him an additional $1.5 million per year on top of his club salary. In 1982, he featured in a World Cup commercial for Coca-Cola, and a Japanese commercial for Puma.[Jimmy Burns (2011) "Maradona: The Hand of God". pp. 71, 84. A&C Black] In 1984 he earned $7m a year at Napoli, and sponsorships included $5m from Hitachi. In 1984, a poll from IMG (company), IMG named Maradona the best known person in the world. In 2010 he appeared in a commercial for French fashion house Louis Vuitton, indulging in a game of table football with fellow World Cup winners Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
and Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...
. Maradona featured in the music video to the 2010 World Cup song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), Waka Waka" by Shakira, with footage shown of him celebrating Argentina winning the 1986 World Cup.
A 2006 television commercial for Brazilian soft drink Guaraná Antarctica portrayed Maradona as a member of the Brazil national team, including wearing the yellow jersey and singing the Brazilian national anthem with Brazilian players Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
and Kaká. Later on in the commercial he wakes up realizing it was a nightmare after having too much of the drink. This generated some controversy in the Argentine media after its release (although the commercial was not supposed to air for the Argentine market, fans could see it online). Maradona replied that he had no problem wearing the Brazilian national squad jersey despite Argentina–Brazil football rivalry, Argentina and Brazil's tense football rivalry, but that he would refuse to wear the shirt of River Plate, Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...
' Superclásico, traditional rival. There is a documented phenomenon of Brazilians being named in honour of Maradona, an example being footballer Diego Costa.
In 2017, Maradona featured as a legendary player in the football video games ''FIFA 18'' and ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2018''. In 2019, a documentary film titled ''Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
'' was released by Academy Awards, Academy Award and BAFTA Award winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker.
Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...
, director of ''Amy (2015 film), Amy'' (on singer Amy Winehouse) and ''Senna (film), Senna'' (on motor racing driver Ayrton Senna). Kapadia stated that "
...Maradona is the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame." He added, "...I was fascinated by his journey, wherever he went there were moments of incredible brilliance and drama. He was a leader, taking his teams to the very top, but also many lows in his career. He was always the little guy fighting against the system... and he was willing to do anything, to use all of his cunning and intelligence to win."
Career statistics
Maradona made 694 appearances and scored 354 goals for club and country combined, with a goalscoring average of .
Club
Notes
International
Notes
Managerial statistics
Honours
Boca Juniors
*Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
Th ...
: 1981 Argentine Primera División, 1981 Metropolitano
Barcelona
*Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...
: 1982–83 Copa del Rey, 1982–83
*Copa de la Liga: 1983 Copa de la Liga, 1983
*Supercopa de España: 1983 Supercopa de España, 1983
Napoli
*Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
: 1986–87, 1989–90
*Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
: 1986–87 Coppa Italia, 1986–87
*Supercoppa Italiana: 1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
*UEFA Cup: 1988–89 UEFA Cup, 1988–89
Argentina U20
*FIFA World Youth Championship: 1979
Argentina
*FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
: 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
*Artemio Franchi Cup: 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup, 1993
Individual
* List of Argentine Primera División top scorers, Argentine Primera División top scorers: 1978 Argentine Primera División, 1978 Metropolitano, 1979 Argentine Primera División, 1979 Metropolitano, 1979 Argentine Primera División, 1979 Nacional, 1980 Argentine Primera División, 1980 Metropolitano, 1980 Argentine Primera División, 1980 Nacional
* FIFA U-20 World Cup#Awards, FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Ball: 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship#Awards, 1979
* FIFA U-20 World Cup#Golden Boot, FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Shoe: 1979
* Olimpia Award, Olimpia de Oro: 1979, 1986
* Footballer of the Year of Argentina, Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986
* ''El Mundo (Spain), El Mundo'' South American Footballer of the Year: 1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992
* ''El Gráfico (Argentina), El Gráfico'' South American Footballer of the Year, Footballer of the America's: 1980, 1981
* ''Guerin Sportivo'' World All-star Team: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985
* World Soccer (magazine), Eric Batty's World XI: 1984, 1987
* Guerin d'Oro (Serie A Footballer of the Year): 1985
* Onze Mondial, Onze de Onze: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
* Golden Ball (FIFA), FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1986 FIFA World Cup#Awards, 1986
* FIFA World Cup awards#Golden Boot, FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe: 1986 FIFA World Cup#Awards, 1986
* FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
Most Assists: 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
* L'Équipe Champion of Champions: 1986
* Onze d'Or: 1986, 1987
* Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer): 1987–88
* Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
top scorer: 1987–88
* UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
European Footballer of the Season: 1989–90
* Golden Ball (FIFA), FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball: 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1990
* El País (Uruguay), ''El País'' Ideal Team of the America's: 1993, 1995
* FIFA World Cup All-Time Team: 1994
* Ballon d'Or for services to football (''France Football''): 1995
* World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
* ''World Soccer'' magazine's World Soccer (magazine)#The Greatest Players of the 20th century, Greatest Players of the 20th century: (#2) 1999
* Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Century: 1999
* Marca Leyenda: 1999
* Squad number (association football), Number 10 Retired numbers in association football, retired by Napoli football team as a recognition to his contribution to the club: S.S.C. Napoli#Retired numbers, 2000
* FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
: 2000
* Goal of the Century, FIFA Goal of the Century (for his second goal against England in 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final): 2002
* FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002
* Golden Foot: 2003, as Golden Foot#Award legends, football legend
* FIFA 100, FIFA 100 Greatest Living Players: 2004
* Argentine Senate ''"Domingo Faustino Sarmiento"'' recognition for lifetime achievement: 2005
* Greatest Footballers in World Cup History: No. 1, by ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 2010
* Best Athlete in History: No. 1, by ''Corriere dello Sport – Stadio'', 2012
* Globe Soccer Awards#Awards of the Century, Player of the 20th Century, by Globe Soccer Awards: 2012
* ''World Soccer'' magazine's World Soccer (magazine)#Greatest XI of All Time, Greatest XI of All Time: 2013
* Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2014
* Argentine Football Association, AFA Team of All Time: 2015
* Greatest Football Players of All-Time: No. 1 by ''FourFourTwo'' magazine, 2017
* Greatest Football Players in World Cup History: No. 1, by ''FourFourTwo'' magazine, 2018
* S.S.C. Napoli#Records and statistics, Napoli all-time Top Scorer (1991–2017)
* ''L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
s top 50 South-American footballers in history: #2
* International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Legends
* Ballon d'Or Dream Team#First Team, Ballon d'Or Dream Team: 2020
* IFFHS World Team#All-time Men's Dream Team (2021), IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team: 2021
*IFFHS World Team#All-time Men's Dream Team (2021), IFFHS South America Men's Team of All Time: 2021
Works
*
*
See also
*List of association football families
*Live Is Life#Maradona's warm up, 1989 warm up to Live Is Life
References
External links
Diego Maradona: Argentina football legend dies aged 60
*
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;", FIFA World Cup, World Cup-winners status
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, style="width:30%; text-align:center;", Preceded by
Carlos Alberto Torres
1944
, style="width:40%; text-align:center;", Latest Born Captain to Die
25 November 2020 – present
, style="width:30%; text-align:center;", Incumbent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maradona, Diego
Diego Maradona,
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