Durban: Diego Maradona has passed away. He was 60. His wild fortune swings became a personification of the flux in his native Argentina. He was 60.
According to Clarin, Maradona had a heart attack in Tigre after undergoing brain surgery earlier this month to remove a blood clot.
Maradona won the league titles in Italy and Argentina and was a World Cup winner with Argentina. That gave him an iconic status that is usually reserved for war heroes. Maradona’s scoring ability and skill in sliding past his opponents propelled him to the Hall of Fame for soccer. However, he was unable to handle the attention and became addicted.
In 2005, Zico of Brazil, himself a sports titan, declared he was “the best of all.” I saw Maradona perform feats that God would have doubted were possible .”
Maradona suffered from heart issues after retiring due to cocaine abuse. He also experienced wild swings in his weight and fitness that appeared to mirror his do-or-die attitude towards life and soccer.
Maradona, in 2009, said, “I am either black or white.” I’ll never grey.”
‘Golden boy
The two goals Argentina’s golden boy scored in 1986 that knocked England out of the World Cup are the most memorable. It was eagerly awaited that the quarterfinals in Mexico City would take place just four years following the Falklands War, which saw the U.K. and Argentina fight for the Falklands. Maradona ensured that it would be a match few would forget.
Steve Hodge, England, miscued his clearance six minutes into the second period, sending the ball into his penalty area. Maradona’s 5-foot-5 height allowed him to leap over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who was 6 feet tall.
The replays revealed that Maradona had fisted the ball, not headed it, into the goal, which was a foul missed by the referee. The Argentine no. The Argentine No.
The goal of the century
Although Maradona’s goal is one of the most famous in soccer history and has been voted the best in the 20th Century by FIFA 2002, the sport’s ruling body is.
Maradona after receiving the pass. They dribbled full-speed past England players and shimmed around Shilton. The ball was rolled into the net from a slight angle as Terry Fenwick slid to tackle him.
Maradona has always been known to combine brilliance and controversy. The two goals Maradona scored five minutes apart are a perfect example.
It is impossible to forget the emotion that local announcer Victor Hugo Morales displayed when he called out the second goal. He shouted, “From what planet are you?” As he ran out of air, he said: “Thank God for Maradona .”
Argentina’s captain Maradona won the World Cup with a 3-2 win over West Germany.
Maradona led the team in another final, this time against Germany, where they were defeated 1-0. Argentina’s soccer fanatics celebrated their 1986 world title for the last time, despite still producing several offensive virtuosos like Lionel Messi. Maradona became a legend because of the nostalgia.
Buenos aires
Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960. At eight, his preternatural talents were noticed when he played soccer in the hardpan field near Villa Fiorito slum, Buenos Aires. Sepia footage shows Maradona juggling soccer balls as a child. He took to the sport quickly and nurtured it by playing into the evening with his friends.
The first person to recognize Maradona’s talent was Francisco Cornejo, who signed him to Argentinos Juniors’s youth squad, where he guided them to a 136-game unbeaten streak.
Maradona debuted in Argentina’s premier league in 1976, just 10 days after turning 16. He was also the top scorer in that league for three straight seasons starting in 1978. Maradona was not included in the 1978 World Cup squad because he had been so young. Cesar Luis Menotti, the Argentine manager, did this due to his youth. He moved in 1981 to Boca Juniors and helped them win the championship.
Italian titles
Maradona started an 11-year stint in Europe in the year 1982. First, with Barcelona, where Menotti would soon arrive, and then Napoli. He was the first to do so, opening the doors for lucrative deals to bring young South American football stars across the Atlantic. Barcelona and Napoli both paid record fees for him.
Maradona led Napoli to two Italian titles in eight years and the UEFA Cup, its only continental trophy. Since then, the team has not won any of these competitions. Maradona was elevated to deity status by fans in Naples who were unused to this level of success.
For many of his fans, Maradona’s time at Barcelona we helped him surpass Messi in the list of great soccer players. On the other hand, Messi has operated with relative ease, always surrounded by star players, at Barcelona. The Maradona vs Messi debate continues, primarily divided along generational lines.
For example, many people who believe Maradona is better than Pele (the legendary Brazil striker) base their arguments on Pele’s unremarkable club career. Pele played for Santos in Brazil almost exclusively and only briefly moved to New York Cosmos after he had reached his peak.
Return home
Maradona also had to deal with fame and adulation at Napoli. After a 15-month ban on cocaine, Maradona left Spain for Sevilla.
Maradona’s return to Argentina was a year later with Newell Old Boys. However, controversy remained. Maradona was given a 15-month ban for using Ephedrine during the 1994 World Cup. Just months before, he had fired an air gun at journalists outside his Buenos Aires house, a crime that eventually led to a jail term with a suspension. In 1997, after his second stint with Boca, he ended his professional career with 679 games, including 346 goals for club and country.
Retirement blues
Maradona continued his gyrations long after he retired from football. The extremes in Maradona’s life are reminiscent of Argentina itself. A boom after returning to democracy in the 1990s collapsed at the dawn of 2000. Argentina rode swells in commodities in the early 2000s but then stumbled as both ends of the political spectrum flipped-flopped from interventionist policies to market-oriented ones.
Maradona was himself a romantic. Maradona tattooed a picture of Che Guevara on his arm. He also supported Venezuela’s socialist government and allied with Argentina’s Peronist Movement leaders.
Fidel Castro, whose tattoo was on Maradona’s leg as well, was the one who saved him from a cocaine addiction by putting him through several years in Cuba of rehab. Yet, the addiction never left him. Maradona would gain weight, which caused him to have breathing and heart problems, while he gorged on alcohol, food and drugs.
Maradona, in 2004, was put on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in a Buenos Aires hospital. After reaching 121 kilograms (2667 pounds), his playing weight was only 73 kilos; he underwent stomach staples in Colombia. He was hospitalized in 2007 for alcoholism.
Financial difficulties were another issue. Maradona fought with Italian courts over an unpaid 37 million euro tax bill (about 44 million dollars) for his time at Napoli. Police confiscated his jewellery in the late 2000s when he returned to Italy.
Argentina coach
Despite his money and health struggles, Maradona briefly hosted a television chat show with guests like Castro and Pele. He then forged an unremarkable career in coaching.
Maradona’s Argentina barely managed to qualify for the World Cup 2010 with an automatic qualifying spot. Maradona’s former rival Germany eliminated the team from the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Maradona spent time as a football coach in Mexico and the United Arab Emirates before returning to Argentina, where he was a part of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. In September 2019, he took the helm, but his addiction and history of problems with health had already taken their toll.
His tragedies and flaws never diminished his popularity. They strengthened his popularity.
Maradona won the 2000 FIFA Award for best player. The FIFA official’s vote was Pele, but the people selected Maradona. That was shared. Manu Chau, a French-Spanish singer and musician from Rosario in Argentina, has released pop songs in tribute to Maradona.
Maradona’s former wife, Claudia Villafane, left him two daughters, Dalma (left) and Gianinna (right). He has recognized at least three other children.
