(Buenos Aires, 1960 - Dique Luján, 2020) Argentine soccer player, one of the greatest in history, often compared to the legendary Pelé. Although his skill with the ball and his refined technique matched that of the Brazilian, Maradona's career was much more irregular: his difficult character, health problems and drug addiction marred part of his career, but did not prevent his genius from shining on numerous occasions. After winning the 1979 World Youth Championship with his country's national team and triumphing two years later with Boca Juniors, he began a European tour that took him to F.C. Barcelona (1982-84), Napoli (1984-91) and Sevilla (1992-93). Back in Argentina, he played for Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors before retiring in 1997. With the Argentine national team he participated in four World Cups and won the World Cup title in Mexico (1986), in which he had a wonderful and unforgettable performance.

Argentina's most popular soccer player was born, according to the Civil Registry, on October 30, 1960 in Lanús, although everyone identifies him as El Pelusa from Villa Fiorito, where he spent his childhood and from where he rose to fame. At the age of nine he began his love affair with soccer, when he played in a children's team known as Los Cebollitas. Don Diego, his father, ran a small soccer field in the neighborhood and managed the Estrella Roja team, which Diego Jr. joined as a teenager and in spite of his older teammates. He studied at the Avellaneda commercial school, but did not finish the first year of high school, because he spent his time playing little games (almost juggling) with the ball.

Signed by Argentinos Juniors, he made his debut in the first division in 1976, ten days before his sixteenth birthday. He continued playing for Argentinos Juniors until 1980, and although his team did not win any championship, Maradona was the top scorer in the Argentine tournaments of 1978, 1979 and 1980. In 1979 he was part of the youth team that won the world championship. In 1981 he moved to Boca Juniors (River Plate also tried to sign him), team with which he became champion that same year.

European adventure

By then, the clubs of the old continent were already the natural destination for the great promises of American soccer, and Maradona was the most outstanding. Signed in 1982 by Futbol Club Barcelona for 1,200 million pesetas (7.2 million euros, an astronomical figure at the time), he won the League Cup, the King's Cup (both in 1983) and the Spanish Super Cup (1984) with the Azulgranas, but hepatitis and a major injury affected his performance. Again for an astronomical fee, he moved to Napoli in 1984, with whom he won the 1987 and 1990 leagues, the 1989 UEFA Cup and the 1991 Italian Super Cup.

During his time in Italy, he married Claudia Villafañe, with whom he would have two daughters, Dalma and Giannina. Maradona remained with Napoli until 1991, when an anti-doping control detected cocaine consumption, for which he was suspended for fifteen months. Shortly after, he was arrested in Buenos Aires in a police raid. On April 28, 1992 he was released from prison and was charged with supplying and possessing drugs.

His international career ended stormily at Sevilla, a team with which he did not complete the 1992-1993 season. When he returned to Argentina after his European experience, he played for the Rosario club Newell's Old Boys (1993-1994) and, after serving the suspension imposed in 1994 by the international soccer authority (FIFA), he returned to the Boca Juniors jersey in 1995, in an irregular season in terms of his performance. In October 1997 he announced his definitive retirement after, once again, testing positive in an anti-doping test.

The hand of God and the goal of the century

With the Argentine national team, Maradona had already shown his magic in the team that won the World Youth Championship in Japan (1979). At senior level, Maradona was part of the national teams that took part in four world championships: Spain (1982), Mexico (1986), Italy (1990) and the United States (1994). He won the world championship in Mexico (1986) and was runner-up in Italy (1990). In the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he only played two matches; after the second, he tested positive in an anti-doping control and was suspended.

Where he shone most brightly was undoubtedly in the World Cup in Mexico, when his ability to drag the entire defense of the opposing team with his impressive dribbling and projection left the millions of fans watching the championship on television stunned. Particularly memorable was his performance in the quarterfinals: four years after the Falklands War, England and Argentina were facing each other in a match of maximum rivalry, which ended with a 2-1 victory for the Albicelestes, with two goals by Maradona.

The first of them should have been disallowed (Maradona fisted a ball that was in dispute with the British goalkeeper), but it is no less famous for that: when asked afterwards if he had scored the goal with his hand, Maradona replied that it had been “the hand of God”, and with that name he went down in history. The second goal, rightly called the goal of the century, was one of his geniuses that is hard to beat: starting from his own half, Maradona dribbled past five English players and the goalkeeper, one after the other, and scored with a left-footed shot.

Professionally, after his retirement he worked as a coach, manager of Boca Juniors, sports commentator and television presenter. Despite the numerous scandals and controversies he was involved in during and after his sporting career, Maradona continued to be idolized in his country. El Pelusa knew how to thrill soccer lovers and earned a place in the history of the sport. The song composed by Fito Páez (Dale alegría a mi corazón) and the tango Mago Diego, by Enrique Bugatti, are some of the tributes that his compatriots dedicated to him.

In 2008 he was appointed coach of the Argentine national soccer team, and his tenure, as was to be expected, was controversial: despite having the likes of Leo Messi, whom he recognized as his successor, the Albiceleste team did not make it past the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. His unsuccessful coaching career continued in the United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Mexico and finally in his native Argentina; he was coach of Gimnasia La Plata when, at the age of 60, he died due to a sudden worsening of his delicate health.

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  • Yeat [he/him]
    ·
    29 days ago

    The talking point that Trump will be so much worse than Harris for Gaza and that he’ll wipe it off the map as a reason to vote for Harris angers me to no end. What’s worse than genocide and a regional war where civilians and their infrastructure are targeted indiscriminately with the aim of terrorizing and killing as many people possible with the full backing of the U.S.? It already is being wiped off the map with the help of a democrat administration. A post on reddit-logo hit r/all from like r/rant or something talking about how not voting because of Gaza is so selfish and is actually worse for Palestinians and it just made my blood boil maybe I should delete that app for good. “Trump says he’d put pro-Palestine protesters in jail!” Did you live under a rock this Spring? There was a college that had snipers pointed at student protesters (under a Democrat president for fucks sake). “They’re indirectly causing more harm!” As opposed to what? Directly causing harm, by voting to legitimize genocide? I fucking hate these ghouls so much. With the 2020 election I could at least sympathize with people choosing to vote blue as a “lesser evil" even though that’s complete bs too, but it just frustrates me to no end now.

    Part of me hopes Trump wins after being bombarded with Harris shit everyday so liberals actually come back from brunch and protest and point out the bad shit he’ll do (that would happen under a Dem presidency anyways). If Oct 7 happened under Trump and Trump did everything Biden has been doing there’d be riots. But then I think of the things Trump and Vance have said about Haitians and think of all the Haitian migrants I know and I remember that we are just so fucked no matter what

    • dustbunnies [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      29 days ago

      have mentioned it in comments previously and was just saying this to my spouse this evening, but I feel like Trump will be awful for all our American comrades but is the only hope for the Palestinians, because I think there's zero chance in hell the world stands up to stop the genocide that America's first black woman president is aiding

      there's maybe the tiniest, tiiiiiniest sliver of a chance they decide they don't want to help the Burger-In-Chief

      any way this goes is going to be a nightmare for way more people than any of us truly comprehend at this point

      • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
        ·
        29 days ago

        I have a strong suspicion that Bibi will piss Trump off really quick. Bibi is too stupid to pretend to respect Trump and Trump is just smart enough to realize when Bibi is being disrespectful.

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
      ·
      29 days ago

      You can hate two sides equally. This is the best option here because it means you don't have to care.

      • Yeat [he/him]
        ·
        29 days ago

        Trust me I do it just feels like I’m living on a different planet than these people

        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
          ·
          29 days ago

          You live on Earth and they live on planet Make Believe. Not being American has made it a lot easier, no one I know personally has these brainworms too strongly. My lib parents totally agree that you morally can't vote for someone funding a genocide and it's that simple. I'm just getting it online, if you want to engage you can make a game of seeing what they'll excuse and how. Talk about how Walz handled the 2020 George Floyd protests as governor. Right now is a great time to see who can be trusted and who can't. Turns out basically no one can be trusted, but thst confirmation is very valuable. We now know we're up against people who will support a genocide actively. It's good to know just how hostile your opponents are, and we've gotten a really solid idea of where libs will fall now. Hopefully into a pit followed by a grenade and dirt along with anyone else who collaborates in mass atrocity.

          • Frank [he/him, he/him]
            ·
            29 days ago

            I can't even get people who lived there when it happened to engage with Walz deploying the us army against black people in Minneapolis to protect the murdercops.

            And yeah, with no one masking, and everyone voting for genocide, it's real clear that basically no one in the us is worth the carbon they hydrate.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      29 days ago

      We kinda saw that with the biden admin. All the libs immediate went back to brunch as biden did america shit. They came out of brunch for like 20 minutes for Roe and then never brought it up again.