Diego Maradona Biography

BIRTH: October 30, 1960, Lanús, Argentina

Diego Maradona Biography : Life & Facts

Diego Maradona is a former Argentinean football player who is known as the greatest football player of all time. Diego helped his club teams to become champions in Argentina, Italy, and Spain. He was part of the Argentinean national team that won the 1986 World Cup.

Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960, in Lanús, Argentina to Diego Sr. and Doña Tota. He grew up in a low-income family and suffered financially. He was gifted a soccer ball at the age of three and he took an immediate interest in the game. When Maradona was eight, he caught the attention of a talent scout while he played in the local football club called Estrella Roja. He immediately selected the young Maradona for the junior team of Buenos Aires’s Argentinos Juniors. He became the leading player on their team named Los Cebollitas (The Little Onions), one of the biggest clubs in Argentina, at the age of ten.

Maradona got his first big break at the age of fifteen. In 1976, he started his professional career with Argentinos Juniors. He played for five years in the club. While there he scored 115 goals in 167 games before he moved to the Boca Juniors team. He was signed on for $1 million in 1981. Diego retrieved his family from poverty solely based on this contract. The same year he contributed to the success of his club when he won them the League Championship. After the League match’s success, Maradona was selected for the Argentinean national team. That year he reached a new high in his football career as he got an opportunity to play in the 1982 World Cup. However, Maradona’s team didn’t do as well as expected.

Maradona transferred to Spain’s FC Barcelona after his failure at the World Cup. He signed a $5 million contract, a world record fee at the time. He proved quite beneficial for the team. In 1983, Maradona led the team and won the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. In just two years he had scored 38 goals in 58 matches. But Maradona suffered quite a bit while he was in Barcelona. He fell ill and sustained multiple injuries. It took him three months to recover fully. After his s recovery he decided to transfer to the Italian team called SSC Napoli in 1984.

Maradona became the most successful player in football during his time in Napoli. He grabbed the media’s attention on a large scale. From 1986-87 and 1989-90 he directed the team for two seasons and won the Serie A Italian championships.

In 1986, Maradona led the Argentinean team to victory during the FIFA World Cup. It was the greatest moment of Maradona’s career. He scored two of the most remarkable goals in World Cup history during this game. He was awarded the Golden Ball Award for being the top scorer. His goal in the quarterfinals against England was known as the ‘Goal of the Century’ by FIFA. Aside from World Cup Napoli, his team also won Coppa Italia in 1987 and the UEFA Cup in 1989.

In 1990, Maradona once again became the captain for the 1990 FIFA World Cup for team Argentina. However, they did not win the trophy this time around and could only reach the finals. In 1992, he left Napoli to join Sevilla of Spain for a year. Maradona also participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup but was disqualified after failing the drug test. After a prosperous seventeen-year long career, Maradona declared his retirement in 1997.

In the years after his retirement he suffered from a lot of health issues. He was hospitalized a couple of times due to heart problems. He had to undergo surgery to curb his obesity. As a former football star, Maradona started training other players. In 2008, he became the head coach of the Argentinean national team until the 2010 World Cup, which they lost against Germany.

Maradona married Claudia Villafane on November 7, 1984. But the marriage didn’t last and the couple divorced in 2004. Maradona is the father of two daughters that he had with Villafane, and two sons.