1986 World Cup Star : Diego Armando Maradona
Shortly before his 16th birthday on 20 October 1976 he made his debut in the first division and four months later he was an Argentine international. National coach Cesar Luis Menotti however didn’t include him in the squad for the 1978 FIFA World Cup™. At the following FIFA World Cup™ in Spain in 1982, Maradona was already a regular but didn’t make any real impression in an old Argentine team. In the last game against Brazil he was even given his marching orders.
After FIFA World Cup™ victory in 1986, Maradona again led his team to the final – also against Germany – of the following tournament in Italy in 1990, despite some very mediocre performances. But he was marked out of the game by Stuttgart’s Guido Buchwald and they were defeated 1-0 after a really poor performance.
The infamous end to his FIFA World Cup™ career and the start of his fall from grace in his private life came at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ in the United States. Ephedrine, a forbidden substance, was detected in a doping test given by the 33-year-old. This led to an immediate ban. Allegedly Maradona had already come into contact with drugs, especially cocaine, in 1989 through Mafia contacts in Naples. He was caught once in March 1991 and suspended for 15 months.
Two short experiences as a coach, at Deportivo Maniyú and Racing, followed in 1994 and 1995 before he decided to play again for Boca Juniors in 1995. The fans celebrated with a great party in the "Bombonera", Boca Juniors’ stadium.
After 20 years of football wizardry, Diego Armando Maradona retired on 30 October 1997, his 37th birthday, five days after playing his last game. Only a few weeks previously another doping test of his had been found to be positive.
Maradona suffered a serious heart attack caused by an overdose of cocaine during a stay at the Uruguayan seaside resort of Punta del Este on 4 January 2000. Immediately afterwards he underwent withdrawal treatment in Cuba where he became friends with the communist head of state, Fidel Castro, and where he sent his long time manager and drugs supplier Guillermo Cóppola packing.
Later, he returned to Argentina before “Dieguito” – he is revered like a saint in his home country – had to be again admitted to a Buenos Aires clinic on 18 April 2004 as a result of high blood pressure, breathing difficulties and pneumonia. At the start of 2005, and in the meantime extremely overweight, the 120 kilogramme “Maratonna” was back in Cuba again for therapy.
An proposal made by the Argentine Football Association that, in honour of Maradona, the No 10 shirt should in future never again be issued was rejected by FIFA.
When football talk turns to the question of the greatest ever footballer, one name is bound to crop up: Diego Armando Maradona. He is considered to be the best player ever to come out of Argentina. |
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His private and footballing life was however dominated by
highs and lows, by grand celebrations and full-blown scandals. Sometimes everything happened all at once. For example at the 1986 FIFA World Cup™ in Mexico. The 25-year-old was at the peak of his skills, the brilliant thinker, playmaker and marksman of a great “Gaucho” team. The tournament’s outstanding player led his country to their second title – the first came in 1978. In doing so he scored a total of five goals and set up five others. |
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 Diego Maradona playing against Italy at the 1994 World Cup. The 1986 World Cup winner and 1990 runner-up was exposed as a drug taker. Firo/Augenklick |
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The quarter-final match against England on 22 June 1986 in
front of 114,000 crowd in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City (2-1) was a
good example of the two sides of Diego Maradona. He began by scoring,
albeit against the rules, the game’s first goal by palming the ball over
the onrushing English goalkeeper Shilton before sidefooting the ball
into the back of an empty net. After the game Maradona spoke of the “the
hand of God” when talking about the incident – and caused one of the
biggest scandals in the history of the FIFA World Cup™. Three minutes later, the exceptionally talented player, who only measured 1.65 m, scored again to make it 2-0. In doing do he dribbled the ball half the length of the pitch and left six English players standing around looking like slalom posts. The goal was chosen by FIFA as the “Goal of the Century” in 2002. Maradona also scored both goals in the semi-final against Belgium (2-0). However, he remained a little colourless in the final against Germany (3-2). The Argentine merely showed one flash of genius when hitting a long pass in the 83rd minute to send Jose Burruchaga on his way. Buruchaga slotted the ball past the German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher for the winning goal. The son of Croatian immigrants was born on 30 October 1960 in Villa Fiorito, a corrugated-iron hut quarter in Buenos Aires. He was Diego Maradona and his wife Dalma Salvadora Franco’s fifth child. It was already obvious from an early age that the "Pibe de oro" (golden boy) was able to caress the ball like no other. As a junior, he remained unbeaten for 136 matches when playing for his club Argentinos Juniors – “Los Cebollitos” (the little onions). |
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 Diego Maradona in his days as a striker for SSC Naples. The Argentine followed in the footsteps of superstars Pele, Beckenbauer and Cruyff. Kunz/Augenklick |
Shortly before his 16th birthday on 20 October 1976 he made his debut in the first division and four months later he was an Argentine international. National coach Cesar Luis Menotti however didn’t include him in the squad for the 1978 FIFA World Cup™. At the following FIFA World Cup™ in Spain in 1982, Maradona was already a regular but didn’t make any real impression in an old Argentine team. In the last game against Brazil he was even given his marching orders.
After FIFA World Cup™ victory in 1986, Maradona again led his team to the final – also against Germany – of the following tournament in Italy in 1990, despite some very mediocre performances. But he was marked out of the game by Stuttgart’s Guido Buchwald and they were defeated 1-0 after a really poor performance.
The infamous end to his FIFA World Cup™ career and the start of his fall from grace in his private life came at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ in the United States. Ephedrine, a forbidden substance, was detected in a doping test given by the 33-year-old. This led to an immediate ban. Allegedly Maradona had already come into contact with drugs, especially cocaine, in 1989 through Mafia contacts in Naples. He was caught once in March 1991 and suspended for 15 months.
Two short experiences as a coach, at Deportivo Maniyú and Racing, followed in 1994 and 1995 before he decided to play again for Boca Juniors in 1995. The fans celebrated with a great party in the "Bombonera", Boca Juniors’ stadium.
After 20 years of football wizardry, Diego Armando Maradona retired on 30 October 1997, his 37th birthday, five days after playing his last game. Only a few weeks previously another doping test of his had been found to be positive.
Maradona suffered a serious heart attack caused by an overdose of cocaine during a stay at the Uruguayan seaside resort of Punta del Este on 4 January 2000. Immediately afterwards he underwent withdrawal treatment in Cuba where he became friends with the communist head of state, Fidel Castro, and where he sent his long time manager and drugs supplier Guillermo Cóppola packing.
Later, he returned to Argentina before “Dieguito” – he is revered like a saint in his home country – had to be again admitted to a Buenos Aires clinic on 18 April 2004 as a result of high blood pressure, breathing difficulties and pneumonia. At the start of 2005, and in the meantime extremely overweight, the 120 kilogramme “Maratonna” was back in Cuba again for therapy.
An proposal made by the Argentine Football Association that, in honour of Maradona, the No 10 shirt should in future never again be issued was rejected by FIFA.
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