Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona was born on 30 October 1960 in Villa Fiorito, a working-class settlement south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died on 25 November 2020 in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province. Widely known as “El Pibe de Oro,” he became one of football’s defining attacking players through close control, dribbling, passing, and left-footed finishing. He joined Argentinos Juniors’ youth system after being spotted playing for Los Cebollitas and made his first-division debut for Argentinos on 20 October 1976, ten days before his sixteenth birthday. At Argentinos Juniors, Maradona scored 116 league goals in 167 appearances. He moved to Boca Juniors in 1981, helped the club win the Metropolitano championship, then joined FC Barcelona in 1982 for a world-record fee. His Barcelona period included a serious ankle injury caused by Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea and a Copa del Rey final confrontation with Bilbao in 1984. He nevertheless won the Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga, and Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona. Napoli signed him in 1984, again for a record fee. In Naples, Maradona became the central figure in the club’s most successful era, leading Napoli to Serie A titles in 1986–87 and 1989–90, the Coppa Italia in 1986–87, the UEFA Cup in 1988–89, and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1990. Napoli later retired his number 10 shirt. His international career contained 91 Argentina appearances and 34 goals. At the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Argentina won the tournament with Maradona as captain. In the quarter-final against England, he scored the disputed “Hand of God” goal and then a second goal in which he dribbled from his own half past multiple opponents; FIFA later voted that strike the Goal of the Century. Argentina reached the 1990 World Cup final but lost 1–0 to West Germany. Maradona also played at the 1982 and 1994 World Cups; his 1994 tournament ended after a positive test for ephedrine. His club career also included Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys, and a return to Boca Juniors. After retiring as a player in 1997, he coached Deportivo Mandiyú, Racing Club, Argentina, Al Wasl, Fujairah, Dorados de Sinaloa, and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. As Argentina’s coach from 2008 to 2010, he took the team to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, where Germany won 4–0. In 2000, FIFA named him joint Player of the Century with Pelé. His legacy remains inseparable from Argentina and Naples football culture today.