Diego Armando Maradona - Argentine footballer and coach. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newells Old Boys. Spent over 90 appearances for Argentina, scoring 34 goals.
Maradona became world champion in 1986 and vice-champion of the world in 1990. The Argentinean was recognized as the best player in the world and in South America. According to a vote on the FIFA website, he was named the best footballer of the 20th century.
In this article, we will recall the main events in the biography of Diego Maradona and the most interesting facts from his life.
So, before you is a short biography of Maradona.
Biography of Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona was born on October 30, 1960 in the small town of Lanus, located in the province of Buenos Aires. His father, Diego Maradona, worked at the mill, and his mother, Dalma Franco, was a housewife.
Before Diego appeared, his parents had four girls. Thus, he became the first long-awaited son of his father and mother.
Childhood and youth
Maradona's childhood was spent in poverty. Nevertheless, this did not prevent him from being content with life.
The boy played football with the local guys all day long, forgetting about everything in the world.
The first leather ball to 7-year-old Diego was given by his cousin. The ball made an unforgettable impression on a child from a poor family, which he will remember for the rest of his life.
From that moment on, he often worked with the ball, stuffing it with different parts of the body and practicing feints.
It is worth noting that Diego Maradona was left-handed, as a result of which he had an excellent left foot control. He regularly participated in yard fights, playing in midfield.
Football
When Maradona was barely 8 years old, he was noticed by a football scout from the Argentinos Juniors club. Soon the talented child began to play for the Los Sebalitos junior team. He quickly became the leader of the team, possessing high speed and special playing technique.
Diego got serious attention after the junior fight with "River Plate" - the reigning champion of Argentina. The match ended with a crushing score of 7: 1 in favor of Maradona's team, which then scored 5 goals.
Every year Diego progressed noticeably, becoming an ever faster and more technical footballer. At the age of 15, he began to defend Argentinos Juniors' colors.
Maradona spent 5 years in this club, after which he moved to Boca Juniors, with which he became the champion of Argentina in the same year.
FC Barcelona
In 1982, the Spanish "Barcelona" bought Maradona for a record $ 7.5 million. At that time, this amount was simply fantastic. And although at the very beginning the footballer missed many fights due to injuries, over time he proved that he was not bought in vain.
Diego played 2 seasons for the Catalans. He participated in 58 matches, scoring 38 goals. It is worth noting that not only injuries, but also hepatitis prevented the Argentine from fully revealing his talent. In addition, he repeatedly had skirmishes with the management of the club.
When Maradona once again quarreled with the Barcelona president, he decided to leave the club. Just at this time, the Italian Napoli appeared on the football arena.
Career heyday
The transfer of Maradona cost Napoli $ 10 million! It was in this club that the best years of a football player passed. For 7 years spent here, Diego won many important trophies, including 2 won Scudettos and a victory in the UEFA Cup.
Diego became the top scorer in Napoli history. However, in the spring of 1991, a positive doping test was detected in the football player. For this reason, he was banned from playing professional football for 15 months.
After a long break, Maradona stopped playing for Napoli, moving to the Spanish Sevilla. After staying there for only 1 year and having quarreled with the team's mentor, he decided to leave the club.
Diego then briefly played for the Newells Old Boys. But even here he had a conflict with the coach, as a result of which the Argentine left the club.
After the world famous air gun shooting at reporters who did not leave Diego Maradona's house, sad changes took place in his biography. For his actions, he was sentenced to 2 years probation. In addition, he was again banned from playing football.
Boca Juniors and retirement
After a long break, Diego returned to football, playing about 30 appearances for Boca Juniors. Soon, cocaine was found in his blood, which led to a second disqualification.
And although the Argentine later returned to football again, this was not the Maradona that fans around the world knew and loved. At the age of 36, he completed his professional career.
"God's hand"
"Hand of God" - such a nickname stuck to Maradona after the famous match with the British, to whom he scored the ball with his hand. However, the referee decided to score a goal by mistakenly believing that everything was within the framework of the rules.
Thanks to this goal, Argentina became the world champion. In an interview, Diego said that it was not his hand, but "the hand of God himself." Since that time, this phrase has become a household word and forever "stuck" to the scorer.
Maradona's playing style and merits
Maradona's playing technique for that time was very non-standard. He had excellent possession of the ball at high speed, demonstrated unique dribbling, tossed the ball and performed many other techniques on the field.
Diego gave accurate passes and had an excellent left-footed shot. He skillfully executed penalties and free kicks, and also played great with his head. When he lost the ball, he always began to chase the opponent in order to get hold of him again.
Coaching career
The first club in Maradona's coaching career was Deportivo Mandia. However, after a fight with the president of the team, he was forced to leave him. Then the Argentinean coached Rosing, but he could not achieve any results.
In 2008, an important event happened in the biography of Diego Maradona. He was entrusted to coach the Argentine national team. And although he did not win any cups with her, his work was appreciated.
Later, Maradona was coached by the Al Wasl club from the UAE, but was never able to win any trophies. He continued to get involved in various scandals, as a result of which he was fired ahead of schedule.
Diego Maradona's hobbies
At the age of 40, Maradona published an autobiographical book "I am Diego". He then unveiled an audio CD featuring the popular song "Hand of God". It is worth noting that the ex-footballer transferred all the proceeds from the sale of discs to clinics for disadvantaged children.
In 2008 the premiere of the film "Maradona" took place. It featured many episodes from the personal and sports biography of the Argentine. It is curious that the Argentinean called himself a man "of the people."
Drugs and health problems
The drugs that Diego used from a young age negatively affected both his health and reputation. In adulthood, he repeatedly tried to get rid of drug addiction in different clinics.
In 2000, Maradona had a hypertensive crisis due to cardiac arrhythmia. After finishing treatment, he went to Cuba, where he underwent a full rehabilitation course.
In 2004, he suffered a heart attack, which was accompanied by excess weight and drug use. With a height of 165 cm, he weighed 120 kg. However, after stomach reduction surgery and subsequent diet, he managed to get rid of 50 kg.
Scandals and television
In addition to the "hand of God" and shooting at reporters, Maradona has repeatedly found himself in the center of high-profile scandals.
He often fought on the football field with rivals, for which reason he was once disqualified from the game for 3 months.
Because Diego hated the reporters who were constantly chasing him, he fought with them and smashed the windows of their cars. He was suspected of tax evasion, and also tried for beating a girl. The conflict occurred due to the fact that the girl mentioned the daughter of an ex-football player in a conversation.
Maradona is also known as a commentator of football matches. In addition, he worked as a host of the Argentinean television show "Night of the Ten", which was recognized as the best entertainment program of 2005.
Personal life
Maradona was officially married once. His wife was Claudia Villafagnier, with whom he lived for 25 years. In this union, they had 2 daughters - Dalma and Janine.
An interesting fact is that Claudia was the first person who advised Diego to become a professional footballer.
The divorce of the spouses occurred for various reasons, including frequent betrayals on the part of Maradona. However, they remained friends. For a while, the ex-wife even worked as an agent for her ex-spouse.
After the divorce, Diego Maradona had an affair with physical education teacher Veronica Ojeda. As a result, they had a boy. A month later, the Argentine decided to leave Veronica.
Today Maradona is dating a young model named Rocio Oliva. The girl conquered him so much that he even decided to go under the surgeon's knife to look younger.
Diego Maradona officially had two daughters, but rumors say there are five of them. He has a daughter from Valeria Sabalain, who was born in 1996, and whom Diego did not want to recognize. However, after a DNA test, it became clear that he was the girl's father.
The illegitimate son from Veronica Ojedo was also not immediately recognized by Maradona, but over the years the footballer nevertheless changed his mind. Only 29 years later did he decide to meet with his son.
Not so long ago it became known that another young man claims to be the son of Maradona. Whether this is actually so difficult to say, so this information should be treated with caution.
Photo by Diego Maradona
