Diego Maradona was an Argentinian football legend who is also known as one of the greatest football players of all time. A short but fearless midfielder, renowned for his ability to create scoring chances for himself and others, Maradona has led club teams to championships in Argentina, Italy and Spain, and famously starred the Argentinian team that won the World Cup in 1986.
Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960, in Lanus in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Maradona grew up in a poor but close-knit household. He received his first soccer ball as a gift at the age of three, and soon became devoted to the game. Maradona was first discovered by a soccer talent scout at the tender age of eight ,while playing for a neighborhood club. Soon after being identified, he was recruited to play for the club Australia Rojas, and went on to play for Los Cebollitas, which is the younger team club for the blended areas club Argentine Juniors.
“When Diego came to Argentinos Juniors for trials, I was really struck by his talent and couldn’t believe he was only eight years old. In fact, we even asked him for his ID card so we could check it, but he told us he didn’t have it with him. We were sure he was having us on, because although he had the physique of a child, he played like an adult. When we discovered he’d been telling us the truth, we decided to devote ourselves purely to him.”— these were the words of Francisco Cornejo, youth coach who discovered Maradona.
Maradona has always been known for his incredible footwork, and it seems he figured it out pretty early. By age 12, he was entertaining the crowd at halftime at first division games with his ball handling skills, and at 15, Maradona made his debut for the Buenos Aires club Argentine juniors. He went on to play for Argentine Juniors for four years, scoring 115 goals in 167 matches. And if you remember he was not playing attacking midfielder as a striker. He made his debut for the Argentinian national team at the age of sixteen in 1977, but he was left out of the 1978 World Cup squad as the manager believed he was too young. So 1979, Maradona played in the Youth World Championship and was the star of the entire tournament.
Maradona played his first World Cup tournament in 1982 in his new country of residence, Spain. The crowd was eager to see Maradona in action, but unfortunately he did not perform to expectations, since there were internal tensions within the team, with the younger, less experienced players at odds with the older, more experienced players.
Maradona captained the Argentine national team to victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, winning the final in Mexico City against West Germany. His performance there included two memorable goals in a quarter-final victory over England. The first was scored illegally with his left hand, which Maradona later claimed was the work of “The hand of God”. Altogether, Maradona played in four World Cups, and scored an impressive 34 goals in 91 international appearances for Argentina.
Despite his unquestioned brilliance on the pitch, the emotional Maradona became equally well known as a highly controversial figure. He became addicted to cocaine while playing in Spain in the 1980s and received a 15-month suspension after testing positive for the substance in 1991. Maradona endured another high-profile suspension three years later, this time for testing positive for ephedrine during the World Cup.
After Maradona’s retirement in 2008, he was hired to coach the Argentinian national team. He led the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup as the coach. Although they had a great start to the tournament, unfortunately Argentina lost to Germany in the Quarter Finals, after which Maradona stepped down as the coach.
Diego Maradona, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, died due to a heart attack at the age of 60 just two weeks after being discharged from hospital for a bleed on his brain. When his death was announced, the football players and fans around the world could not hold back their tears. A three day mourning period was declared by Argentina President Alberto Fernandez, and his words at Maradona’s funeral were, ‘He was someone who touched the sky with his hands but never took his feet off the ground”, This was the feeling the whole world had towards Maradona’s, whcih goes to know what a phenomenal and humble character he was. Diego may be gone, but Maradona will be remembered in everyone’s hearts as one of the greatest football player forever.
Written by: Rtr. Rishad Mohiyade
Edited by: Rtr. Kalani Siriwardena
Editor