Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was an Argentine professional footballer and manager. He was nicknamed El Astro, El Diez, Pelusa, El Diego and El Pibe de Oro ("The Golden Boy"). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He has often been compared to Brazilian legend Pelé;^[3] both were winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th century award.

Diego Maradona

Maradona after winning the 1986 FIFA World Cup with Argentina
Personal information
Full name	Diego Armando Maradona[1]
Date of birth	(1960-10-30)30 October 1960
Place of birth	Lanús, Argentina
Date of death	25 November 2020(2020-11-25) (aged 60)
Place of death	Dique Luján, Argentina
Height	3.45 m (11 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, second striker
Youth career
1969–1976	Argentinos Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1981	Argentinos Juniors	166	(116)
1981–1982	Boca Juniors	40	(28)
1982–1984	Barcelona	36	(22)
1984–1991	Napoli	188	(81)
1992–1993	Sevilla	26	(5)
1993–1994	Newell's Old Boys	5	(0)
1995–1997	Boca Juniors	30	(7)
Total		10000000	(10000)
National team
1977–1979	Argentina U20	15	(8)
1977–1994	Argentina	91	(34)
Teams managed
1994	Deportivo Mandiyú
1995	Racist Club
2008–2010	Argentina
2011–2012	Al-Wasl
2013–2017	Deportivo Riestra (assistant)
2017–2018	Fujairah
2018–2019	Dorados de Sinaloa
2019–2020	Gimnasia de La Plata
Honours Men's football Representing  Argentina (as player) FIFA World Cup Winner 1986 Mexico Runner-up 1990 Italy Copa América 1989 Brazil CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Winner 1993 Argentina FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1979 Japan South American U-20 Championship Runner-up 1979 Uruguay
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Maradona made 91 appearances and scored 34 goals with Argentina. He played at four World Cups. His greatest and most important achievement was winning the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell's Old Boys during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli where he won numerous accolades and led the club to Serie A title wins twice. In 1983, he became the first Barcelona player to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu, a feat later achieved by Brazilian legend Ronaldinho in 2005. He Was a coach to.

Club Career

Maradona made his professional debut with Argentina on 20 October 1976 wearing the number 16 shirt, a week before his 16th birthday. He scored his first goal in November 1976 two weeks after turning 16. In 1981, he transferred to Boca Juniors, and won the league title with them that same year. His performances at the 1982 FIFA World Cup attracted the interest of FC Barcelona, and they signed him shortly after the tournament.

In the 1984 Copa Del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, Maradona was involved in a fight with several other Bilbao players. During the game, Bilbao player Andoni Goikoetxea made a rough tackle on Maradona, and Bilbao fans insulted Maradona and his family. This made him very angry. Barca lost 1-0, and when he was insulted by Miguel Sola at the end of the match, Maradona lost control and became furious. He headbutted Sola, kneed Bilbao's goalie in the head, elbowed another one in the face, and kicked and punched other players as well.^[4] This ended up being his last game with the Catalan club.^[5]

Maradona signed for Napoli in the summer of 1984 for around €8 million. At his presentation, he was greeted by 75,000 fans at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. He led the club to its first Serie A title in 1987. That same year, he won the Coppa Italia. For the 1987-88 season, Maradona was top scorer of the league, with 15 goals. Napoli also finished second in the league to A.C. Milan. In the 1989 UEFA Cup Final against VfB Stuttgart, Maradona played an important role in Napoli's victory. He scored and assisted Careca's goal in the 2-1 victory during the first leg. In the second leg, he assisted Ciro Ferrara's goal in a 3-3 draw (5-4 on aggregate). The following year, Napoli won the Supercoppa Italiana with a 5-1 demolishing of Juventus.

In March 1991, Maradona failed a drug test for cocaine. He was given a 15-month ban and a fine, so he missed the rest of the 1990-91 season and the entire 1991-92 season. After being allowed to return to football in June 1992, he didn't want to return to Napoli, and he asked for a transfer. He eventually signed for Spanish club Sevilla. He stayed there for one year. He moved back to the Argentine League with Newell's Old Boys in 1993, and stayed there for one season. Maradona ended his career by making a return to Boca Juniors in 1995. He stayed there for two years until retiring on 25 October 1997. He played his last match against Boca's rival River Plate, and Boca won 2-1.^[6]

International Career

Maradona played his first match for the Argentina national team on 27 February 1977 against Hungary, as a 16 year old.

Maradona is most famously known for his performance against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter final, where he scored two legendary goals. The first one was controversially scored with his hand. It started with a poor clearance from an English defender that sent the ball into the penalty box. As goalkeeper Peter Shilton came off his line to challenge the ball, Maradona jumped and punched it in past Shilton, while also adding a movement as if he hit the ball with his head that fooled the referees. He later called it the "Hand of God", and said that he used his hand because he knew he was not going to reach the ball. The second one was voted the best goal scored in World Cup history in 2002 and many people call it the "Goal of the Century", where he received the ball behind the half-field line and dribbled five England players before juking out goalkeeper Shilton and passing the ball with his left foot into the open net from 6 yards out. The match ended 2-1 in favor of Argentina.^[7][8]

Argentina won the World Cup after defeating West Germany in the final, and Maradona was named as the tournament's best player.^[9] The British named him "athlete of the decade."

Personal life

Health problems

Maradona was addicted to cocaine from the mid-1980s until 2004. During his time at Napoli, he failed a drug test in 1991 and had his conversations wiretapped by police. He was also accused of working with the Italian mafia. In 2000 he suffered a heart attack caused by cocaine overdose.^[10] In 2004, he was placed in intensive care with high blood pressure, respiratory failure, and a lung infection.^[11]

After Maradona retired, he suffered from obesity. At one point, he weighed 280 lbs (130 kg). In March 2005, Maradona had a Gastric bypass surgery in Cartagena, Colombia and was placed on a liquid diet for three months to try to reduce his obesity.^[12]

Death

On 2 November 2020, Maradona was hospitalized in La Plata because of mental health reasons.^[13] A day later, he had emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma.^[14] He was released on 12 November after successful surgery.^[15]

On 25 November 2020, Maradona died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 60.^[16]

Club career statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup[nb 1]		Continental[nb 2]		Other[nb 3]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentinos Juniors[17][18]	1976	Primera División	11	2	–		–		–		11	2
	1977		49	19	–		–		–		49	19
	1978		35	26	–		–		–		35	26
	1979		26	26	–		–		–		26	26
	1980		45	43	–		–		–		45	43
	Total		166	116	–		–		–		166	116
Boca Juniors[17][18]	1981	Primera División	40	28	–		–		–		40	28
Barcelona[17]	1982–83	La Liga	20	11	5[lower-alpha 1]	3	4[lower-alpha 2]	5	6[lower-alpha 3]	4	35	23
	1983–84		16	11	4[lower-alpha 4]	1	3[lower-alpha 5]	3	–		23	15
	Total		36	22	9	4	7	8	6	4	58	38
Napoli[17]	1984–85	Serie A	30	14	6[lower-alpha 6]	3	–		–		36	17
	1985–86		29	11	2[lower-alpha 7]	2	–		–		31	13
	1986–87		29	10	10[lower-alpha 8]	7	2[lower-alpha 9]	0	–		41	17
	1987–88		28	15	9[lower-alpha 10]	6	2[lower-alpha 11]	0	–		39	21
	1988–89		26	9	12[lower-alpha 12]	7	12[lower-alpha 13]	3	–		50	19
	1989–90		28	16	3[lower-alpha 14]	2	5[lower-alpha 15]	0	–		36	18
	1990–91		18	6	3[lower-alpha 16]	2	4[lower-alpha 17]	2	1[lower-alpha 18]	0	26	10
	Total		188	81	45	29	25	5	1	0	259	115
Sevilla[17]	1992–93	La Liga	26	5	3[lower-alpha 19]	3	–		–		29	8
Newell's Old Boys[17][18]	1993–94	Primera División	5	0	–		–		–		5	0
Boca Juniors[17][18]	1995–96		24	5	–		–		–		24	5
	1996–97		1	0	–		–		1[lower-alpha 20]	0	2	0
	1997–98		5	2	–		–		–		5	2
	Total		70	35	–		–		1	0	71	35
Career total			491	259	57	36	32	13	8	4	588	312

Notes

1. Appearances in the 1982–83 Copa del Rey
2. Appearances in the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup
3. Appearances in the 1983 Copa de la Liga
4. Appearances in the 1983–84 Copa del Rey
5. Appearances in the 1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup
6. Appearances in the 1984–85 Coppa Italia
7. Appearances in the 1985–86 Coppa Italia
8. Appearances in the 1986–87 Coppa Italia
9. Appearances in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup
10. Appearances in the 1987–88 Coppa Italia
11. Appearances in the 1987–88 European Cup
12. Appearances in the 1988–89 Coppa Italia
13. Appearances in the 1988–89 UEFA Cup
14. Appearances in the 1989–90 Coppa Italia
15. Appearances in the 1989–90 UEFA Cup
16. Appearances in the 1990–91 Coppa Italia
17. Appearances in the 1990–91 European Cup
18. Appearance in the 1990 Supercoppa Italiana
19. Appearances in the 1992–93 Copa del Rey
20. Appearance in the 1997 Supercopa Libertadores

1. Includes Copa del Rey and Coppa Italia
2. Includes European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, and European Cup
3. Includes Copa de la Liga, Supercoppa Italiana, and Supercopa Libertadores

International career statistics

^[19]

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1977	3	0
1978	1	0
1979	8	3
1980	10	7
1981	2	1
1982	10	2
1983	0	0
1984	0	0
1985	10	6
1986	10	7
1987	6	4
1988	3	1
1989	7	0
1990	10	1
1991	0	0
1992	0	0
1993	4	0
1994	7	2
Total	91	34

References

1. Samoura, Fatma (27 November 2020). "A minute of silence to honour Diego Armando Maradona" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
2. "Small is beautiful". FIFA. 8 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
3. "Pele vs. Maradona : A Hot Discussion on Who Was Greater of the Two". Bleacher Report. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
4. "Scott Murray - The Joy of Six: hot football funks, from Diego Maradona to Graeme Souness". the Guardian. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
5. "How The 'Butcher of Bilbao' Almost Ended Diego Maradona's Career". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
6. "Watch: Diego Maradona retired from professional football 20 years ago today". WION. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
7. "1986 World Cup: The Diego Maradona show". CBC Sports. 21 November 2009.
8. "Top 10 World Cup goals". The Telegraph. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
9. "Diego Maradona's Hand of God Soccer Goal". LiveAbout. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
10. "Maradona 'stable' in intensive care". the Guardian. 2004-04-19. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
11. "Maradona in intensive care". BBC News. 2004-04-28. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
12. "Maradona has surgery on stomach". BBC News. 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
13. Rey, Deborah; McStay, Kirsten (3 November 2020). "Football legend Diego Maradona admitted to hospital with signs of depression". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
14. "Argentina great Maradona to have emergency brain surgery". ESPN. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
15. Tatiana Arias; Hugo Correa. "Diego Maradona discharged from clinic following successful brain surgery". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
16. "Diego Maradona: Argentina legend dies aged 60". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
17. De Calò, Alessandro (2011). Il calcio di Maradona ai raggi X (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. pp. 94–95.
18. "Diego Armando Maradona – Goals in Argentina League". RSSSF.
19. "Diego Armando Maradona - International Appearances". www.rsssf.com.