Diego Maradona Biography

Diego Maradona is considered one of the greatest players in the history of soccer, popularly known as football. The Argentine Great led many club teams from Argentina, Italy and Spain in championships. In his leadership, Argentina won the World Cup in 1986. Though there are controversies over the goal scored by him, using ‘hand of god’, as a player, as a coach, as a supportive team member, and finally as a human being, he is loved all over the world.

Outside the field, he had a charismatic life. On one hand, he was popular for his political stance; on the other hand, he was immensely criticized for the cases related to drug abuse. In the words of former defender of Italy, Ciro Ferrara, ‘Diego was an anti-hero. Despite his weaknesses, he became the best of all time.’ In this Diego Maradona biography, we will learn about the life story of Maradona and how he became the Greatest of All-time in soccer.

Who was Diego Maradona?

Diego Armando Maradona was born in a province of Buenos Aires, Argentina named Villa Fiorito. Diego Maradona's date of birth is October 30, 1960 He was the fifth child among the eight children of Diego Sr and Dona Tota. Maradona was the first son after four daughters. He also has two young brothers Hugo and Raul, both were professional football players. Diego Sr was a worker in a chemical factory. Though they suffered from monetary issues, the family were closely knit.

Maradona received his first football as a gift at the age of three. Soon he started to like the game and at the age of 10, he joined the youth team of one of the biggest clubs in Argentina, Argentinos Juniors. The young boy led Los Cebollitas to an unbeaten streak of 136 games.

Diego Maradona’s Professional Career

On October 20, 1976, just 10 days before his 16th birthday, Diego Maradona made his professional debut for the senior team of Argentina Juniors. He spent the next five years in the club and made 167 appearances with 115 goals before signing a contract with Boca Juniors. 

In 1982, after the World Cup, he transferred to Spanish club Barcelona with a world record fee of $5 million. His stay in Barcelona was quite eventful. In 1983, Barcelona won Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup. With Maradona’s goal, Barcelona also managed to win El Classico and became the first Barcelona player to be applauded by Real Madrid fans. Illness, injury, and a controversial fight on the field made his tenure in Barcelona difficult in later years.

In 1984, he arrived at Napoli and soon became the captain. In Napoli, he reached the peak of his professional career. Maradona led Napoli in their first-ever Serie A title in 1987. The title count did not stop there. In the coming few years Napoli also won one more Serie A title, two runners up titles in Serie A, UEFA Cup.

After a successful run in Napoli, he joined Sevilla in 1992 and appeared in different clubs such as Newell’s Old Boys (1993-95), Boca Junior (1995-97) in the following years.

Diego Maradona’s International Career

Diego Maradona's life story is a saga of losses and victories. Maradona played his first World Cup game in 1982. But, Argentina could not meet the fan expectations. Argentina and Maradona had to return empty-handed after experiencing defeat from Brazil and Italy in the second round.

In 1986, Maradona returned to the World Cup stage as a captain of Argentina. Throughout the tournament, he showed his skill, excellence and was recognised as the most dynamic player of the competition. The quarter-final match with England generated a lot of controversies. Argentina won the match by 2-1. Two goals were scored by Maradona himself. The first goal scored by him was illegal which he proclaimed later as the work of “the hand of God”. Maradona's hand of God is one of the most controversial moments of the FIFA World Cup. Some authors named the biography of Maradona football player ‘Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona, Soccer's Fallen Star’.

The second was supernatural as Maradona dribbled through defenders and found the net. A French newspaper described him as “half-angel, half-devil” for this fiasco in the quarter-final. Argentina beat Belgium and West Germany subsequently in the semi-final and final to lift the World Cup.

In 1990, Argentina again reached the final of the World Cup but lost to West Germany. The Captain, Maradona failed to perform at per audience expectation due to an ankle injury.

1994 was his last World Cup where he was sent off home after failing the drug test and played only two games.

Over the four World Cups, Maradona appeared 91 times for Argentina National Team and scored 34 goals.

Diego Maradona’s Managerial Career

Maradona started his managerial career in the year 1994. His partner was Carlos Fren, midfield teammate and friend from Argentinos Juniors. They led Mandiyu of Corrientes in 1994 and Racing Club in 1995 with little success. In 2011, a club of Dubai named Al Wasl FC  signed Maradona as manager but got sacked in 2012. Argentine Club Deportivo Riestra took him as mental coach in 2013. From 2017 to 2019 he was engaged in coaching various second division clubs e.g. Fujairah in UAE, Dorados in Mexico but failed to make any impact. In 2019, he signed with Gimnasia de La Plata. Despite having a bad record in the season, Gimnasia renewed his contract for the 2020-21 season.

In 2008, Maradona applied for the vacant position of head coach in Argentina National Team and got confirmation by November 2008. Argentina’s World Cup campaign in 2010 was under his supervision. Subsequent wins in group stages and round of 16 with Nigeria, South Korea, Greece and Mexico, Argentina met Germany in the quarter-final and experienced a loss by 4-0. After this defeat, the Argentina Football Association decided not to continue with him.

Diego Maradona’s Autobiography

In 2000, Soy El Diego ("I am The Diego") – Diego Maradona Autobiography was published and became a bestseller in Argentine. He donated the royalties obtained from the Cuban edition of this book to the “Cuban people and Fidel ''.

Political Views of Diego Maradona

Throughout his career, he never shied away to express his left-leaning political ideology. He had a portrait of Che Guevara tattooed on his right arm. He was a good friend to Cuban leader Fidel Castro and had great respect for former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  Whenever some atrocities happened, he was always vocal to protest. Be it the Israeli attack on Palestine or air-raids on Iraq by the USA. Once in a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1987, he got irritated with all the gold and wealth of the Vatican, and the Pope's concern about poor kids. He argued with the Pope about how to solve the problem of wealth disparity, saying –“Sell your ceiling then, amigo, do something!”

Diego Maradona Death Reason and Tributes

Maradona was admitted to the hospital in La Plata on 2nd November 2020. He underwent brain surgery to treat subdural hematoma and was released on 12th November 2020. On 25 November 2020, he suffered a severe heart attack and died at the age of 60.

The Argentine Football Association expressed their deep sorrow on the demise of the legend. In every match of Champions League, Europa League, COPA the players observed a moment of silence to show tribute to the legend. In Naples, they renamed their stadium Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on 4 December 2020. Maradona's life story is a fairytale – a journey from the slums of Argentina to the hearts of people from all over the world.

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