Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (El Diego) (born October 30, 1960) is a former Argentine football player. With the possible exception of Pele, he is widely regarded as the finest and greatest player of all times.

Maradona was born in Villa Fiorito, Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of humble origin. He first played in the Argentine Championship, for Argentinos Juniors (1976-81) and then for Boca Juniors (1981-82). He then went to Spain, where, playing for FC Barcelona, he won a Copa del Rey. On July 5, 1984 he went to Naples, Italy to join SSC Napoli, where he won two Italian Championships (1986/87 and 1989/1990), a Coppa Italia (1987), a UEFA Cup (1989) and an Italian Supercup (1990), plus Napoli were runners-up in the Italian Championship twice.

Maradona led the Argentine national team to victory in the World Cup in 1986, the team winning 3-2 in the final against West Germany. In this tournament, he became notorious for a goal in the quarter-final game against the England, which video evidence later clearly revealed he had scored with the aid of his hand. He later claimed it was the "Hand of God" which had caused him to score the goal, to the general derision of the English public and in particular the tabloid newspapers, who still resurrect the incident occasionally even today, branding him a cheat. However, Maradona showed the other side of his nature just a couple of minutes later in the same match, by running half the length of the pitch and beating almost the entire English team along the way, to score what is widely regarded as the most exceptional goal of all time.

Maradona also captained Argentina in the 1990 World Cup, leading a far weaker team to the final again, where they lost 1-0 to West Germany. In the 1994 World Cup he was sent home in disgrace after failing a drugs test for ephedrine doping.

In Naples, where he is still beloved (having brought the local team their first scudetto), he also faced a scandal regarding an illegitimate son and was the object of some suspicion over his friendship with the Camorra, the local mafia.

Maradona left Napoli in 1992, after serving a 15 month ban for failing a drug test, and played for Sevilla FC (1992-93), Newell's Old Boys (1993) and Boca Juniors (1995-97). He also attempted to work as a coach on two short occasions, leading Mandiyú of Corrientes (1994) and Racing Club (1995) . He retired from football on October 30, 1997.

Maradona spent much of the 1990s battling a cocaine addiction, which included a well-publicized spell in a detox clinic in Cuba. He apparently surmounted the problem for the time being, and then embarked upon a new career as a talk-show host, with which he had great success.

In 2000, Maradona was voted FIFA's Player of the Century by Internet users in a millennium poll, garnering 53.60% of the votes. In a reconciliatory gesture, FIFA appointed a footballing committee which voted in favor of Pelé alongside the Argentine.

In 2002, the Argentine Football Association asked FIFA for authorization to retire shirt number 10, the number Maradona used, as an homage. At first, FIFA authorized it only to reverse their decision soon after. While retiring a shirt number used by a great athlete is common practice in American sports, there were no cases of this happening in Football.

Maradona's brother is also a soccer player and his alleged illegitimate child is now trying to start a career in football, but he does not appear to have inherited his father's skills.

On April 18, 2004, doctors reported that Maradona had suffered a major heart attack following a cocaine overdose and was in intensive care in a Buenos Aires hospital. Dozens of fans gathered around the clinic indicating his popularity even in 2004. Days after the heart attack, a male nurse was caught taking photos of Maradona in his grave condition, with a cellular telephone. The nurse had received an offer of six thousand US dollars by a tabloid newspaper to take the photos. He was, however, promptly fired by hospital directors. Maradona was hospitalized in a floor that was closed so he could be attended to exclusively.

After he showed improvement, he was taken off a respirator on April 23, and remained in intensive care for several days before being discharged on April 29. However, he returned to the hospital on May 5. Since then, he has entered a psychiatric facility for substance abuse treatment in Cuba.

Maradona is also known in Argentina as "El Pibe de Oro" (The Golden Boy). In 2002, Maradona published his autobiography Yo Soy El Diego, which became an instant bestseller in his home-country.

Career Statistics

Clubs

Argentinos Juniors (1976-1981) - 166 matches (116 goals)
Boca Juniors (1981-1982, 1995-1997) - 71 matches (35 goals)
Barcelona (1982-1984) - 58 matches (38 goals)
SSC Napoli (1984-1991) - 259 matches (115 goals)
Sevilla (1992-1993) - 29 matches (7 goals)
Newell's Old Boys (1993) - 5 matches (0 goals)

International

1977-94 Argentina (91 appearances, 34 goals)
21 appearances in four FIFA World Cup finals
Argentina's second highest goal-scorer

Club honours

1981 Argentine league championship
1987 Italian league championship
1987 Italian Cup
1989 UEFA Cup
1990 Italian league championship

International honours

1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
1986 FIFA World Cup winner
1990 FIFA World Cup runner-up
1993 Copa Artemio Franchi

Coaching career

1994 Mandiyú de Corrientes
1995 Racing Club de Avellaneda

Individual honours

1979-81 Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year
1979-81, 1986 Argentine Sports Writers' Footballer of the Year
1979-80, 1986 Argentine Sports Personality of the Year
1979, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992 South American Footballer of the Year (El Mundo, Caracas)
1986 Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA World Cup
1986 European Footballer of the Year (France Football)
1986-7 Best Footballer in the World (Onze)
1996 Golden Ball for services to football (France Football)
1999 Best World Cup goal (1986 (2-0) v. England)
1999 Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Century
2000 "FIFA best football player of the century", people's choice.