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A BLAST FROM THE PAST
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Diego Maradona Full name: Diego Armando Maradona Date of birth: 30/10/1960 From the streets to the stadiums Diego Armando Maradona sounds like a stage name to us now but to those in the shantytowns on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego was one boy in thousands, using football as an escape from poverty. It wasn’t long before he was spotted at his local club and he was asked to play for junior team, Argentinos Juniors, when he was only 12. He remained at this club for five years, before being snapped up by the biggest club in Argentina, Boca Juniors, for the princely sum, at the time, of £1 million. He helped them to become league winners and was starting to attract the attention of the rest of the world. He was quick, he was strong and he was more skilful than anyone in the whole league. His height wasn’t that great but he made it work to his advantage. It meant he could stop and start with sudden bursts of strength and speed. He was a nightmare for defenders at such a young age and with very little topflight experience, he was a rapidly growing talent. Europe called and Diego answered Barcelona waved a record-breaking £5 million in Boca’s direction and the Argentines released Diego in 1982. Although he helped Barcelona to win their national cup competition, he didn’t get on too well there and repeating bouts of sickness meant it was time to move on again and sooner than expected. In 1984, southern Italian club Napoli made Barcelona an offer they couldn’t refuse. It was another record breaker: £6.9 million for the star, but he was worth every single penny. With Maradona leading the
charge, Napoli finally over-took their northern rivals and were crowned Serie A league winners twice, Coppa Italia winners once and UEFA and Italian Supercup winners. However, Maradona started to fall from grace during the late eighties in Naples, and it would sadly become the beginning of the end for the legend. His beloved Argentina Maradona is much more famous for playing for his country than for a club team. He made Argentina one of the greatest teams ever, during the 1980s and no team looked forward to playing against the likes of Diego. He began his international playing career at only 18 and made an immediate impression during the Football World Youth Championships. When he was 22, he played in all of the World Cup matches, showing the world what he was capable of, even though one of those things was being sent off. The next World Cup in 1986 was to be Maradona’s defining moment though. He captained his country in every minute of every game and finally they defeated West Germany
in the final. Maradona scored five goals in the campaign. His two most famous moments ever, came against England in their 2-1 win in the quarter-finals. Maradona’s two goals couldn’t have been more different. They perfectly represent the man’s entire career. The first was that famous ‘Hand of God’, where he seemed to head the ball into the net using his hand. The second was a masterpiece of football and was voted Best Goal of the Century in 2002 by Fifa. Here is the first one and here is the second. In the next World Cup in 1990, Maradona was by no means at his best. He was carrying an ankle injury, yet he rallied his team and they still made it to the final, but lost to their previous finalists West Germany. Although Maradona did play in World Cup 94 in USA, he was kicked out of the tournament after playing in two games, for failing a drugs test. He professed his innocence but the world knew by now that the legend was dependent on drugs. His retirement beckoned.
Career Appearances: 490 Goals: 311 International Caps: 91 Goals: 34 Career Highlight: Cheating England out of a world cup semi final.