Djego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona Franco, 30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was an Argentine professional footballer and football manager.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and by many as the greatest ever. He was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona's vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills were combined with his small stature (1.65 m or 5 ft 5 in), which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to manoeuvre better than most other football players; he would often dribble past multiple opposing players on a run. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. In addition to his creative abilities, he also possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a free-kick specialist. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro" ("The Golden Boy"), a name that stuck with him throughout his career.

An advanced playmaker who operated in the classic number 10 position, Maradona was the first player in football history to set the world record transfer fee twice, first when he transferred to Barcelona for a then-world record £5 million, and second, when he transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9 million. 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 and Barcelona where he won numerous accolades.

In his international career with Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico where he captained Argentina and led them to victory over West Germany in the final, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. In the 1986 World Cup quarter final, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history for two different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handling foul known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble past five England players, voted "Goal of the Century" by FIFA.com voters in 2002.

Maradona became the coach of Argentina's national football team in November 2008. He was in charge of the team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. He then coached Dubai-based club Al Wasl in the UAE Pro-League for the 2011–12 season. In 2017, Maradona became the coach of Fujairah before leaving at the end of the season. In May 2018, Maradona was announced as the new chairman of Belarusian club Dynamo Brest. He arrived in Brest and was presented by the club to start his duties in July. From September 2018 to June 2019, Maradona was coach of Mexican club Dorados. He was the coach of Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata from 2019 until his death.

Early years

Maradona playing at the Torneos Evita in 1973 (a national sporting event in Argentina) with the "Cebollitas" "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 asked him for his ID card so we could check it, but he told us he didn't have it on 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."

—Francisco Cornejo, youth coach who discovered Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona was born on 30 October 1960, at the Policlínico (Polyclinic) Evita Hospital in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, to a poor family that had moved from Corrientes Province; he was raised in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was the first son after four daughters. He has two younger brothers, Hugo (el Turco) and Raúl (Lalo), both of whom were also professional football players. His parents were Diego Maradona "Chitoro" (d. 2015) and Dalma Salvadora Franco 'Doña Tota' (1930–2011). They were both born and brought up in the town of Esquina in the north-east province of Corrientes Province, living only two hundred metres from each other on the banks of the Corriente River. In 1950, they left Esquina and settled in Buenos Aires. At age eight, Maradona was spotted by a talent scout while he was playing in his neighbourhood club Estrella Roja. He became a staple of Los Cebollitas (The Little Onions), the junior team of Buenos Aires's Argentinos Juniors. As a 12-year-old ball boy, he amused spectators by showing his wizardry with the ball during the halftime intermissions of first division games. He named Brazilian playmaker Rivelino and Manchester United winger George Best among his inspirations growing up.

Personal life

Family

Born to a Roman Catholic family, his parents were Diego Maradona Senior and Dalma Salvadora Franco. Maradona married long-time fiancée Claudia Villafañe on 7 November 1984 in Buenos Aires, and they had two daughters, Dalma Nerea (born 2 April 1987) and Gianinna Dinorah (born 16 May 1989), by whom he became a grandfather in 2009.

Maradona and Villafañe divorced in 2004. Daughter Dalma has since asserted that the divorce was the best solution for all, as her parents remained on friendly terms. They travelled together to Naples for a series of homages in June 2005 and were seen together on other occasions, including the Argentina games during 2006 World Cup.

During the divorce proceedings, Maradona admitted he is the father of Diego Sinagra (born in Naples on 20 September 1986). The Italian courts had already ruled so in 1993, after Maradona refused to undergo DNA tests to prove or disprove his paternity. Diego Junior met Maradona for the first time in May 2003 after tricking his way onto a golf course in Italy where Maradona was playing. Sinagra is now a footballer playing in Italy. After the divorce, Claudia embarked on a career as a theatre producer, and Dalma was seeking an acting career; she had expressed her desire to attend the Actor's Studio in Los Angeles.

Maradona's relationship with his immediate family was a close one, and in a 1990 interview with Sports Illustrated he showed phone bills where he had spent a minimum of 15,000 US dollars per month calling his parents and siblings. Maradona's mother, Dalma, died on 19 November 2011. He was in Dubai at the time, and desperately tried to fly back in time to see her, but was too late. She was 81 years old. His father, "Don" Diego, died on 25 June 2015 at age 87.

Maradona's great-nephew, Hernán, is a professional footballer.

Drug abuse and health issues

From the mid-1980s until 2004, Maradona was addicted to cocaine. He allegedly began using the drug in Barcelona in 1983. By the time he was playing for Napoli, he had a regular addiction, which began to interfere with his ability to play football. In the midst of his drug-crisis in 1991 Maradona was asked by journalists if the hit song Mi enfermedad (lit. My Disease) was dedicated to him.

Maradona had a tendency to put on weight and suffered increasingly from obesity, at one point weighing 280 lb (130 kg). He was obese from the end of his playing career until undergoing gastric bypass surgery in a clinic in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 6 March 2005. His surgeon said that Maradona would follow a liquid diet for three months in order to return his normal weight. When Maradona resumed public appearances shortly thereafter, he displayed a notably thinner figure.

On 29 March 2007, Maradona was readmitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires. He was treated for hepatitis and effects of alcohol abuse and was released on 11 April, but readmitted two days later. In the following days, there were constant rumours about his health, including three false claims of his death within a month. After transfer to a psychiatric clinic specializing in alcohol-related problems, he was discharged on 7 May. On 8 May 2007, Maradona appeared on Argentine television and stated that he had quit drinking and had not used drugs in two and a half years. In January 2019, Maradona underwent surgery after a hernia caused internal bleeding in his stomach.

Political views

Having previously been vocal in his support of neoliberal Argentine President Carlos Menem and his Harvard University–educated economist Domingo Cavallo, Maradona has shown sympathy to left-wing ideologies. He became friends with Cuban leader Fidel Castro while receiving treatment on the island, with Castro stating, "Diego is a great friend and very noble, too. There's also no question he’s a wonderful athlete and has maintained a friendship with Cuba to no material gain of his own." Maradona had a portrait of Castro tattooed on his left leg and one of Fidel's second in command, fellow Argentine Che Guevara on his right arm. In his autobiography, El Diego, he dedicated the book to various people, including Castro. He wrote, "To Fidel Castro and, through him, all the Cuban people."

Maradona was also a supporter of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In 2005, he came to Venezuela to meet Chávez, who received him in the Miraflores Palace. After this meeting, Maradona claimed that he had come with the aim of meeting a "great man" ("un grande" in Spanish), but he had met instead a gigantic man ("un gigante" in Spanish, meaning he was more than great). "I believe in Chávez, I am Chavista. Everything Fidel does, everything Chávez does, for me is the best." Maradona was the guest of honour of Chávez at the opening game of the 2007 Copa América held in Venezuela.

Maradona has declared his opposition to what he identifies as imperialism, notably during the 2005 Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. There he protested George W. Bush's presence in Argentina, wearing a T-shirt labelled "STOP BUSH" (with the "s" in "Bush" being replaced with a swastika) and referring to Bush as "human garbage". In August 2007, Maradona went further, making an appearance on Chávez's weekly television show Alo Presidente and saying, "I hate everything that comes from the United States. I hate it with all my strength." In December 2008, however, Maradona had adopted a more pro-US attitude when he expressed admiration for Bush's successor, President-elect Barack Obama, and held great expectations for him.

"I asked myself, 'Who is this man? Who is this footballing magician, this Sex Pistol of international football, this cocaine victim who kicked the habit, looked like Falstaff and was as weak as spaghetti?' If Andy Warhol had still been alive, he would have definitely put Maradona alongside Marilyn Monroe and Mao Tse-tung. I'm convinced that if he hadn’t been a footballer, he'd've become a revolutionary."

—Emir Kusturica, film director

With his poor shanty town upbringing, Maradona has cultivated a man of the people persona. During a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1987, they clashed on the issue of wealth disparity, with Maradona stating, "I argued with him because I was in the Vatican and I saw all these golden ceilings and afterwards I heard the Pope say the Church was worried about the welfare of poor kids. Sell your ceiling then amigo, do something!" In September 2014, Maradona met with Pope Francis in Rome, crediting Francis for inspiring him to return to religion after many years; he stated, "We should all imitate Pope Francis. If each one of us gives something to someone else, no one in the world would be starving."

In December 2007, Maradona presented a signed shirt with a message of support to the people of Iran: it is displayed in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' museum. In April 2013, Maradona visited the tomb of Hugo Chávez and urged Venezuelans to elect the late leader's designated successor, Nicolás Maduro, to continue the socialist leader's legacy; "Continue the struggle," Maradona said on television. Maradona attended Maduro's final campaign rally in Caracas, signing footballs and kicking them to the crowd, and presented Maduro with an Argentina jersey. Having visited Chávez's tomb with Maradona, Maduro said, "Speaking with Diego was very emotional because comandante Chávez also loved him very much. Maradona participated and danced at the electoral campaign rally during the 2018 presidential elections in Venezuela. During the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, the Mexican Football Federation fined him for violating their code of ethics and dedicating a team victory to Nicolás Maduro.

In October 2015, Maradona thanked Queen Elizabeth II and the Houses of Parliament in London for giving him the chance to provide "true justice" as head of an organization designed to help young children. In a video released on his official Facebook page, Maradona confirmed he would accept their nomination for him to become Latin American director for the non-governmental organization Football for Unity.

Public image

Maradona habitually referred to himself in the third person as "Maradona" and "El Diego".

Financial problems

In March 2009, Italian officials announced that Maradona still owed the Italian government €37 million in local taxes, €23.5 million of which was accrued interest on his original debt. They reported that thus far, Maradona had paid only €42,000, two luxury watches and a set of earrings.

Death

On 2 November 2020, Maradona was admitted to a hospital in La Plata, supposedly for psychological reasons. A representative of the ex-footballer said his condition was not serious. A day later, he underwent emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma, a blood clot on the brain. He was released on 12 November after successful surgery and was supervised by doctors as an outpatient. On 25 November 2020 at the age of 60, Maradona died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a statement on social media, the Argentine Football Association expressed "its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend", adding: "You will always be in our hearts."