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Revision as of 03:09, 9 May 2002 by 62.253.64.7 (talk) (+Englishing, dates, career stats)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Diego Armando Maradona is a former Argentinian football player. He is generally regarded as one of the best players of all time.
He was born in Villa Fiorito, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 30, 1960. Maradona first played in the Argentinian Championship, for Argentinos Juniors (1976-81) and then for Boca Juniors (1981-82). Then he went to Spain, where, playing for Barcelona, he won a Copa del Rey. In June 1984 he went to Naples to join Napoli, where he won two Italian Championships (1986-87 and 1989-1990), a Coppa Italia (1987), a UEFA Cup (1989) and an Italian Supercup (1990), plus Napoli were runners-up in the Italian Championship twice.
He led the Argentinian national team to victory in the World Cup in 1986 (in which he admittedly cheated in the semi-finals against England, in the famous "Hand of God" incident, in the same game scoring the most beautiful goal in history, according to many people's opinion), and he was in the team that came second in the World Cup in 1990 to West Germany. In the 1994 World Cup he was sent home in disgrace after failing a drugs test for ephedrine.
In the 1990s, his reputation and his ability were damaged by cocaine addiction that he tried to control on several occasions, and is now trying to defeat in Cuba.
In Naples, where he is still beloved (having brought the local team their first scudetto), he also faced a scandal regarding an illegitimate son and was object of some suspects about friendship with the Camorra (local Mafia).
Maradona left Napoli in 1992, after serving a 15 month ban for failing a drug test, and played for Sevilla (1992-93), Newell's Old Boys (1993) and Boca Juniors (1995-97), without much success. He also attempted to work as a coach on a two short, very unsuccessful occassions, leading Mandiyú of Corrientes (1994) (played 12, won 1) and Racing Club (1995) (played 11, won 2). He retired from football on October 30, 1997.
In 2002, the FIFA authorized the Argentinian Football Association to stop using the shirt number 10, the number he used, as an homage to him.
Maradona's brother is a soccer player too, and his illegitimate child is now trying to start a career in soccer, but he does not appear to have inherited his father's skills.
Career Stats
Argentinos Juniors (1976-81) - 166 matches (116 goals)
Boca Juniors (1981-82, 1995-97) - 71 (35)
Barcelona (1982-84) - 58 (38)
Napoli (1984-91) - 259 (115)
Sevilla (1992-93) - 29 (7)
Newell's Old Boys (1993) - 5 (0)
Argentina (1977-94) - 91 (34)