Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona was born on 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, and grew up in Villa Fiorito. At nine, he joined Los Cebollitas, the youth side of Argentinos Juniors, where his close control and left-footed dribbling drew attention. He made his Argentine Primera División debut for Argentinos on 20 October 1976, ten days before his sixteenth birthday, against Talleres de Córdoba. A week later he scored his first league goal against San Lorenzo.

Maradona won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship with Argentina in Japan and was named the tournament’s best player. He moved to Boca Juniors in 1981, helped the club win the Metropolitano championship, and transferred to Barcelona in 1982. His time in Spain included a Copa del Rey triumph in 1983, but hepatitis and an ankle injury complicated it. In 1984, Napoli paid a world-record fee to sign him.

At Napoli, Maradona became the central figure in the club’s greatest era. He led the southern Italian team to Serie A titles in 1986–87 and 1989–90, its only league championships, plus the 1987 Coppa Italia, the 1989 UEFA Cup, and the 1990 Supercoppa Italiana. His number 10 shirt was retired by Napoli in 2000. At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Maradona captained Argentina to victory. In the quarter-final against England, he scored the disputed “Hand of God” goal and then dribbled from inside his own half past five opponents for a goal later voted FIFA’s Goal of the Century. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final, and Maradona received the Golden Ball as the competition’s best player.

He played in four World Cups and helped Argentina reach the 1990 final, where West Germany won 1–0. At the 1994 tournament, he was sent home after testing positive for ephedrine; FIFA imposed a 15-month ban. After leaving Napoli in 1992, he played for Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys, and Boca again before retiring in 1997.

Maradona managed Argentina from 2008 to 2010, taking the side to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, where Germany won 4–0. He later coached clubs including Deportivo Mandiyú, Racing Club, Al Wasl, Fujairah, Dorados de Sinaloa, and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. On 25 November 2020, he died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province, shortly after brain surgery. Argentina observed three days of national mourning, and thousands filed past his coffin at the presidential palace.