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“The glory is not in ever falling, But in rising every time you fall.” Diego Maradona does justice to this saying. The spirit of football dwells in him. The journey of Diego that is discussed here is nothing short of a roller coaster ride. From rising to glory and then getting into the pitfalls, he never let it get to him and emerged even stronger than he was before.
The South American hero played his first game for Argentine juniors on the 20th of October 1976. It was ten days before his sixteenth birthday. He stayed with the club for almost five years. He was then transferred to Boca juniors. After playing for Barcelona he went to Napoli. It was where he played the majority of his club games and reached the zenith of his career. He went on to play for Seville and Newell’s old boys before rejoining Boca Juniors in 1995.
Background
Diego Maradona was born on October 30 1960 in Larnice in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina. It was just South of the capital city in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. He was raised in a shantytown on the southern outskirts of the city. During the 60s and the early 70s via Fiorito provided the training ground for a young craftsman learning the trade that would propel him to superstardom. Diego was born into a poor family. This fourth child of six grew up with three elder sisters and two younger brothers, Hugo and Eduardo. Both of his brothers became professional footballers.
At the age of 10, Diego was spotted by a talent scout while playing for his local club and started playing for the little onions, the juniors team of Argentinos Juniors. Two years later, he became a ball boy for the first division games and would entertain spectators at halftime showing off his wizardry with the ball. While he was at Argentino Juniors, English club Sheffield United submitted a bid of 180 thousand pounds to secure his services. The bid was rejected but then Baca Juniors upped the offer to a million pounds. Maradona was then on his way to a new club. Maradona repaid Baca’s faith in him. He won the debut season constantly proving his star quality. He explicitly excited the crowd with his flair and finesse.
Club Career and the setbacks
source: thenewyorker.com
In his short stint at Boca Juniors, Diego Maradona could not put a foot wrong. He was selected to play for Argentina in the 1982 World Cup. This brought him to the attention of Spanish Club Barcelona. They were impressed with the young star and bought him for at then world-record fee of five million pounds. He went on to help the club win the Copa Del Rey, Spain’s annual National Cup competition as well as the Spanish Super Cup. However, it wasn’t all good news for Barcelona. It was hepatitis and a broken leg that threatened to put an end to his promising career. Diego needed all his strength and determination to overcome the setbacks. Although he got his football career back on track, off the field he was getting into disputes with the team’s directors. Maradona demanded to be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984.
All that glitters is not gold
Further, Napoli snapped him up for another record fee of 6.9 million pounds. It was here that Diego Maradona really began to catch fire. He played a crucial role in delivering the club its most successful period in history. Under him, they pulled off the double, winning the league title and the Coppa Italia in the same season. Maradona by now managed to earn the adoration of his fans. He was elevated to the status of club icon after his remarkable win for Napoli. In the following year, Napoli played second and Diego continued to dominate. He became the league’s top scorer. The 1988-89 season was to be another successful one. They were runners-up in the league and played second in the Copra Italia in 89. Napoles also won their first major European title. Along with this, they claimed the Italian Super Cup in 1990.
However, there were rumors that he has started drugs. He even failed the doping test by the Italian Football Federation testing positive for cocaine. He was then banned for a period of 15 months as a consequence. This marked the end of his reign for the club. He left the club in disgrace in 1992. He joined the Spanish club, Sevilla in 1992 but could never again retrace his previous form.
International Career
source: thesefootballtimes.co
Some of Diego Maradona’s finest moments were played out in the international arena. He made his debut for Argentina on the 27th of February 1977 at the age of sixteen. At 18, he starred in the world youth championship for Argentina. To his disappointment, he was not included in the 1979 World Cup. However, after dominating the National League in the following seasons the selectors could not deny him again. Maradona captained the squad to victory at the 1986 World Cup. He emerged as the driving force for the team and also the most exciting and dominant player. He was seen playing every minute of every game.
Throughout his career, he was revered as a God by the Argentinian fans. In 2006, he accepted the position of a commentator for the World Cup for a Spanish television station. Despite possessing the little managerial experience, Maradona was given the position of a National coach in 2008 after the former coach resigned.
With his fine work and embracing his setbacks, and emerging even stronger, Diego Maradona quite simply is a Footballing God. It is even acclaimed that in Argentine football, there is a before and an after Maradona. Not only his exemplary skills and mystic games, but it was even the controversies that made him grow and flourish.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona
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