Diego Maradona: the genius who led Argentina to World Cup glory

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Diego Armando Maradona was hated by a nation for the ‘Hand of God’ in Mexico City, but worshiped by the world for his moment of genius just four minutes later.

The Argentine fuel, who has died at age 60, was undoubtedly one of the best footballers in history.

Maradona, a fierce and indomitable personality, a man so drastically different in his worldview from Brazil’s beloved Pele, was an unstoppable force on his way to reaching the top of the game.

But, after winning the World Cup in 1986, his fall from grace was swift, bizarre and, like the man himself, totally unpredictable.

Born on October 30, 1960, the son of a boatman from Villa Fiorito, Buenos Aires, Maradona began his prolific career with the Argentinos Juniors youth team, ‘Los Cebollitas’.

And soon he began to plan what would be his immortalizing performance at Azteca, in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup against England.

In his autobiography, Maradona rejoiced that he had first gotten away with the ‘Hand of God’: “You are reaching for the ball and the hand is moving independently,” he wrote, in the early 1970s.

Later in the decade a referee warned him not to try again, but the ever-rebellious ‘Pibe de Oro’, or Golden Boy, who had 100 goals to his credit at 19, couldn’t make that promise.

He tried time and again to achieve what would become his famous second goal: with Argentinos, then at Boca Juniors after manipulating his city rivals River Plate to get a better deal at La Bombonera, and then repeatedly with Argentina.

When the inventive and lethal 10th weaver played at Wembley in May 1980, Ray Clemence stood his ground after Maradona had dribbled across the entire English defense with his sights on goal.

Recalling how his little brother Hugo later stopped him for his mistake of shooting wide, Maradona said: “At the World Cup in Mexico I remembered his advice.”

Spurred on by ‘anger’, his own made-up word for angry resentment, sparked by his omission from the 1978 squad and Argentina’s weak performance in Spain in 1982, Maradona was a man possessed in Mexico.

At the age of 25 he was captain of Argentina after replacing Daniel Passarella, who officially left half the tournament due to illness and in part because he lost a battle of wills with his successor as patron.

Maradona inspired the team to win over South Korea, Bulgaria and Uruguay to prepare for a capital clash against England, with the recent bloodshed from the Falklands War adding an additional layer of tension.

In the 51st minute, Steve Hodge’s poor attempt to deny Jorge Valdano saw the ball soar towards Maradona, who used his left fist to send it past six-foot, one-inch Peter Shilton, finding the goal open.

“(Terry) Fenwick was the first to appeal for a handball. Not because I had seen it, but because I couldn’t understand how I could have jumped higher than the goalkeeper, ”Maradona said.

“At that time I called it the ‘Hand of God.’ Bitch it was the hand of God, it was the hand of Diego! “

Despite the desperate cries of injustice and dismay at the time, Terry Butcher would praise Maradona’s sheer brilliance in fooling England.

“I just couldn’t get close to him, all I saw was his number 10,” said the former number six. “It had a low center of gravity that protected the ball. He also had a great leap for such a small man. “

No one could argue with the genius of the winner.

“It seems like a goal one could dream of but will never score. Now he’s become a legend, ”Maradona said of the impressive individual effort that left the Three Lions reeling and everyone else drooling.

After breaking out between Peter Beardsley and Peter Reid, Maradona outwitted Butcher, made a pass to Valdano that fooled Fenwick and, with Shilton running, circled the goalkeeper before scoring the “goal of his life”.

Gary Lineker, who scored England’s consolation in that quarter-final loss, said of the diminutive forward’s masterstroke: “The second goal Maradona scored in Mexico was the best goal ever.

“That was the first time in my career that I almost applauded on the field something the opposition had done because it was a really good goal.”

Maradona would be Argentina’s captain for another World Cup final in 1990, but injuries hampered his own performances and he cried on television after West Germany deposed his compatriots in Rome.

Along the way, in Naples, he was already a working-class hero, the puppet who had transformed an average Napoli second-division team into the two-time champion of Italy in 1990.

The titles were “for the people, for the workers,” and Maradona was pleased to surpass the gracious Michel Platini of the star-studded Juventus.

But Maradona’s personal demons, a cocaine problem, tax problems and alleged ties to criminal organizations, saw him fall from grace and he was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup after a positive drug test, his international career ended after 91 international matches. and 34 goals.

Months before he had fired a compressed air pistol at journalists, an action for which he received a suspended jail sentence and, despite a ceremonial return to Boca, in 1995 his playing career was almost over.

Soon gaining weight and marking all his public appearances with strange and strange behaviors, he surprisingly chose Fidel Castro’s Cuba as the refuge where we would leave his many habits.

It was for many a shocking appointment as Argentina coach in 2008 but, despite a confrontational focus on media duties, he led the nation to the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa, resigning after his tough 4-0 defeat to Germany. . Several short tenure periods followed in the Middle East and South America.

Maradona is survived by his daughters Dalma and Gianinna, his son Diego, and his ex-wife Claudia Villafane.



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