Diego Maradona died of a heart attack at age 60

World Champions, Serial Champions, UEFA Cup Champions, Doping Offenders, Failed TV Presenters, and Cocaine Addicts all rolled into one; actually, it was too much for a single lifetime.

Diego Maradona in the hospital

Maradona recently survived a hospital stay. He was released from a hospital on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on November 11, just over a week after the operation for a brain hemorrhage. The former superstar initially spoke about emotional stress, anemia, and dehydration.

Then the tests found bleeding between the meninges and the brain. Maradona survived what was possibly the most difficult moment of his life, his lawyer Matías Morla said at the time. Maradona is willing to rehabilitate for personal problems: “Maradona will be around for a while.” A few days later, Maradona died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. The called doctors were unable to resuscitate him.

A life between extremes

There are countless anecdotes about Maradona: how he deceived his opponents in ranks, how he barely dribbled to death, how he shot journalists with a compressed air rifle or a church named after him. As a footballer, Maradona was as indescribably good as perhaps anyone before or after. As a person, many years later he was so fat that he could hardly speak. As a coach, he failed not just once. Diego Armando Maradona: This name represents a life between extremes, between heaven and hell, between genius and madness.

God has taken his hand: Diego Maradona was a genius in the field and a fool far from him – stations of his life https://t.co/r3UPcQQdxs via @NZZ

– chrisprantner (@ChrisPrantner) November 25, 2020

The hand of God”

After he scored a goal with his hand in the quarterfinals against England at the 1986 World Cup, which still counted, and then said it was the “hand of God”, the whole world knew him. It will continue to be one of the most historic settings in world football.

Football trip begins in Buenos Aires

Legend has it that his own football journey begins in the Villa Fiorito settlement on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where “El Pibe de Oro” (the golden boy) is discovered early by the first division club Argentinos Juniors. As a twelve-year-old ball boy, he is said to have offered viewers more entertainment than the first team with his cabinet pieces during halftime breaks. At 15 he made his debut in the First Division, at 16 he was a national player, at 17 he was the top scorer and at 19 he was the first South American footballer of the year.

APA / dpa / Norbert Försterling

“I just want to be Maradona”

At that time, Argentine reporters wanted to know if he was the new Pelé. “I’m Maradona, it’s nothing new. I just want to be Maradona,” replied the young “Diegito.” And he achieved it without a doubt: because the path of his life is incomparable. In 1982, Maradona switched to FC Barcelona for a record fee, but only became a demigod two years later. For another record transfer, it’s up to SSC Napoli, not the big clubs in northern Italy, but the mocked almost relegated in the despised south.

Revered as a saint

This is where the transformation begins. Maradona climbs higher and higher, in 1987 and 1990 he leads Napoli to the only championships in the club’s history to date. More than 70,000 fans welcomed him at Stadio San Paolo when he was greeted, and then the crowd stood outside his door. Once, a nurse allegedly stole a blood sample and brought it to church. The Neapolitans venerate him as a saint. Maradona can handle the hype as long as he plays football, get better and better on the field.

Herbert Prohaska recalls

“He made a first-rate team with a team like Naples,” Herbert Prohaska, the Austrian footballer of the century, recalled on Wednesday after news of his death at ORF. Maradona kicked football in Italy a few years after him. “In my time, Napoli played against relegation, and with Maradona Napoli won two championships. And he made Argentina world champion, an incredible player. You just admired him as a rival. He was a player who could do everything, a genius” . . “

Maradona and Argentina played against Prohaska and the ÖFB team around 1980 at the Prater Oval in Vienna. Maradona, at the time “just” a young star, first scored several times for “Albiceleste” at 5-1, the farewell match of ÖFB captain Robert Sara. At the latest after his three goals, the Austrian public knew how to report on the genius of the ball artist.

World Champion with Argentina 1986

Maradona won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina and in 1989 he also won the UEFA Cup with Naples. Off the field, he becomes as uncontrollable as his opponents. He falls in love with cocaine (“One line, and I felt like Superman”), sometimes hanging around the houses from Sunday night to Wednesday, and then sweating all over again until the next game on the weekend. His career in the national team ended at the 1994 World Cup due to a second-month doping ban from FIFA.

The extreme oscillation between exuberant exuberance and desperate gloom is no stranger to many of his compatriots. The commotion around Maradona was sometimes grotesque. There was a Maradona museum, a Maradona musical and even a Maradona church where “Nuestro Diego” was said. After his soccer career, Maradona also repeatedly sought proximity to left-wing caudillos in Latin America. I was happy to be next to Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez or Nicolás Maduro.

“Diego had a life like a dream. And like a nightmare,” said his fitness coach Fernando Signorini. The “hand of God” with which he scored against England in 1986 or his goal of the century after an incredible dribble in the same game are unforgettable. But the images of the spherical Maradona with striking blonde hair that appeared years later are also unforgettable. He failed as a television presenter and coach of the Argentine national team, spent weeks in hospitals, had a sinking stomach and missed death several times.

“He lived every moment as if it were his last”

“I think he thinks he is a god and that could be one of the reasons for his problems,” said Héctor Pezzella, director of the Güemes clinic in Buenos Aires, where Maradona was treated in 2007, many years ago. The exceptional player never forgave himself, on or off the field. “Live each moment as if it were your last,” his fitness trainer Signorini once said. “Once Diego is gone, they will love him even more.” Brazilian soccer idol Pelé (80) said after the client on Wednesday: “It is sad news to lose such a friend. May God give his family enough strength. One day we will surely play soccer together in heaven.” .

The first reactions at a glance

Pele (Brazilian soccer idol): “Sad news to lose such a friend. May God give his family enough strength. Surely one day we will play soccer together in heaven.”

What sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. Much remains to be said, but for now, may God empower family members. One day, I hope we can play ball together in heaven. pic.twitter.com/6Li76HTikA

– Pelé (@Pele) November 25, 2020

Herbert Prohaska (Austrian footballer of the century at ORF): “In my time, Napoli played against relegation, and with Maradona Napoli won two championships. And he made Argentina world champion, an incredible player. You just admired him as a rival. He was a player who could do everything, a genius” . . “

Gary Lineker (former England forward): “By far the best player of my generation and possibly the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he will find comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.”

Boca Juniors (Argentine Club): “Eternal thanks. Eternal Diego.”

Diego Maradona Profile

• Born: October 30, 1960 in Villa Fiorito (Buenos Aires)
• Death: November 25, 2020 in Tigre (Buenos Aires)
• Height / weight: 1.68 m / 70 kg (during active times)
• Position: Attacking midfield

Stations as a professional:

• Argentinos Juniors (1976-81)
• Boca Juniors (1981-82)
• FC Barcelona (1982-84)
• SSC Napoli (1984-1991)
• FC Sevilla (1992-93)
• Newell’s Old Boys (ARG / 1993)
• Boca Juniors (1995-97)

Trainer positions:

• Deportivo Mandiyu Corrientes (ARG / 1994)
• RC Avellaneda (ARG / 1995)
• Argentina (2008 to 2010)
• Al-Wasl (VAE / 2011 bis 2012)
• Fujairah (VAE / 2017 bis 2018)
• Dorados de Sinaloa (MEX / 2018 bis 2019)
• Gymnastics of La Plata (ARG / 2019 bis 2020)

Great achievements (all as players):

• 1986 World Champion
• WM-Finalist 1990
• four participations in the World Cup (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)
• 91 international appearances for the Argentine national team (34 goals)
• Argentine champion 1981 with Boca Juniors
• Champion of Spain 1983 with Barcelona
• Italian Champion in 1987 and 1990 with SSC Napoli
• 1989 UEFA Cup champion with Napoli
• Champion of the Italian Cup 1987 with Naples
• Best footballer of the 1986 World Cup
• 6-time South America Player of the Year (1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992)
• 4 times Argentina Footballer of the Year (1979, 1980, 1981, 1986)
• U-20 World Champion 1979 and best player of the tournament in Japan

Awards:

• His second goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, dribbling from the center line, was awarded by the world football association FIFA.
• Chosen door of the 20th century.
• In a vote of FIFA fans on the Internet, Maradona was voted “World Player of the Century”.
• Inclusion in the list of the best footballers of the 20th century, the so-called “FIFA 100”

Annotation: Banned for 15 months in 1991 for cocaine use that resulted in a positive doping result.

(Those: APA)