Golden Boy No. 10: A divine artist whose toughest rival was cocaine Sports

Named after the hand he scored for England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, Diego Maradona wowed soccer fans with a two-decade career and a captivating style of play unique to him.

Although his reputation has been tarnished by bad habits and poor training in the Argentine national team, Maradona will forever remain ideal in a soccer-mad Argentina as the “Pibe de Oro”, the “golden child”.

The number 10, which marked his jersey, became his synonym, although it was also played by Pelé, a Brazilian legend with whom Maradona is often compared as the greatest footballer of all time.

“My mom thinks I’m the best. And they raised me to always listen and believe what my mother said, ”Maradona said.

Brilliant, fast and completely unpredictable, Maradona was an attacking genius who knew how to juggle the ball by passing it from one foot to the other before embarking on an attack.

By tilting and shifting the center of gravity, he has bathed countless rivals and often scored goals with his left foot, his most powerful weapon.

“Everything he could think of he could do with his foot,” said Salvatore Bagni, who played with Maradona at Italian club Napoli.

The thickened torso line slowed Maradona’s pace later in his career, as did the 1991 doping scandal, during which he first admitted he was in trouble from cocaine. He ended his career in 1997 at the age of 37.

After avoiding death through hair and reviving it in hospital in 2000, and then again in 2004 for heart problems, he continued to blame cocaine and then trust that he had overcome his drug craving. As he himself stated, cocaine was “my toughest opponent.”

However, more health problems emerged despite stomach surgery in 2005, after which she lost weight. But in 2007, Maradona was hospitalized again for acute hepatitis, and doctors claimed he was guilty of binge drinking and eating.

Maradona made an unexpected return to the Argentine team when he was confirmed as the coach of the national team in 2008.

But after failing in the quarter-finals during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was ousted and had to choose another path as a coach. This time he went to the Al Wasl club in the United Arab Emirates.

He took revenge on the English with a famous goal

Madarona was the fifth child in a family of eight who lived in a poor and dirty area of ​​Buenos Aires, from where many Argentine soccer stars grew up in dusty fields.

None of them achieved the fame of Maradona. In 2001, FIFA named Maradona one of the two greatest footballers in football history, along with Pelé.

“Maradona inspired us,” said Argentine striker Carlos Tevez, who explained his compatriots’ eternal admiration for Maradona during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. “He is our idol, he is the idol of men.”

Maradona won titles at home and abroad after playing for Argentina Juniors and Boca Juniors in the early 1980s before moving to Spanish and Italian clubs.

Real recognition came at the 1986 World Cup, when as captain of the Argentine national team he led the team to victory 3: 2 against West Germany in the final and 2: 1 against England’s goal in the famous quarter-finals.

Despite protests from England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the referee scored Maradona’s goal, who later admitted to purposely hitting his “a bit mischievous” hand.

But Maradona cannot be accused of fraud for long. In those matches, a few minutes later, he flipped four opponents from midfield with a ball in a top-notch performance and disarmed Mr. Shilton with a goal that was later declared by FIFA to be the most beautiful in World Cup history.

Many Argentines saw that victory over the English as retaliation for the country’s defeat to the British during the 1982 war for the Falkland Islands, which Argentines still call Las Malvinas.

“This is how we recover Las Malvinas,” Maradona wrote in his 2000 biography, “Soy Diego.” – It was more than an aspiration to win a match. We said that the party had nothing to do with the war, but we knew that they killed the Argentines there, they killed them like birds. It was our revenge. It was more than a game: we defended our flag. “

He surprised everyone when he was a kid

The gold title was the fulfillment of justice for Maradona, who later declared the “greatest tragedy” of 1978, when he was disqualified from Argentina just before the World Cup (the first that Argentina won while playing in his home country) for being too much. young, only 17 years old. years.

Maradona said they gave him the soccer ball as soon as he learned to run.

“I was 3 years old and I was sleeping hugging that ball,” he said.

At the age of 10, D. Maradona already enjoyed the fame of his performances during the break in professional matches, surprising the crowd of spectators with the ability to keep the ball without lowering to the ground, and keeping his foot, chest, head . He made his debut with Argentina’s youth team and led the fourteen-year-old team in a series of 136 unbeaten matches.

“Watching him play was a real blessing, as if he were seeing a real constellation,” said former teammate Carlos Beltrán.

Maradona played for the Argentine Juniors at the first division club from 1976 to 1981, then moved to Boca Juniors for a year before moving to Barcelona for a record $ 8 million purchase. Dollars.

In 1984, Barcelona sold him to the Napoli club.

It paid off quickly, almost only leading the team to the 1987 Italian championship title, the first for the Naples club in 60 years.

The end of his career was overshadowed by drugs

After losing in the 1990 World Cup final to Argentina’s West Germany team, Maradona moved to Spanish club Sevilla, but his career was already on the brink of balance. He played five games for Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys in 1994, before returning to Boca Juniors in 1995-1997. – your last and closest club to your heart.

Drug problems overshadowed his last soccer career.

Maradona ran into a doping test in 1991 and was disqualified for 15 months after acknowledging a long-standing craving for cocaine. He recovered again from a doping test and was eliminated from the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

After finishing his career, Maradona continued to attend Boca Juniors matches, fiercely supporting the team on the podium, and also participated in world charity, sports and exhibition events. But he gained weight quickly, obviously having a hard time breathing during those friendly matches while still on the field.

The year 2000 was what doctors called his death touch when he entered a Uruguayan hospital for heart. Doctors said it was less than half full. Cocaine was found in blood and urine samples.

He became friends with Fidel Castro

In 2004 another ambulance call was made, again for drugs, and in September Maradona traveled to Cuba for addiction treatment. He was visited in Havana by a close friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

In Cuba, Maradona played a lot of golf and smoked cigars. He extolled Castro and the Argentine-born revolutionary Che Guevara, who fought against Castro during the Cuban Revolution, and even got a tattoo with an image of Che Guevara on his right arm.

Maradona said that he had gotten rid of drugs and turned a new page in life.

In 2005, in Colombia, after surgery for gastritis, he lost almost 50 kilograms and then appeared on an Argentine television talk show. Maradona has won the ball with Mouse, talked about boxer Mike Tyson and Hollywood celebrities, and recorded a conversation with Fidel Castro in Cuba.

After graduating, Maradona became more open to communication. He spoke with former coaches, players, including Pelé, as well as the Pope. He joined the left wing protest train before an international event in 2005 when he defeated Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and condemned US President George W. Bush.

Maradona’s status was in doubt and everyone was surprised by the decision to entrust him with the helm of the Argentine team after the departure of Alfio Basile.

Although Maradona has won three matches, his tactics, player selection and attention to detail have raised many questions, especially after a 1: 6 loss to Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers, when Argentina suffered the biggest loss.

However, Maradona’s strength in football was elsewhere.

Victor Hugo, Argentina’s most popular soccer commentator, said Maradona would be remembered for an exciting style of play that no one repeated.

“He was one of the greatest artists of my time. As the most prominent teachers of music or art, he ignored our intellect and enriched the human spirit, CHMorales said. “Nobody made me happier and left me with such reverent fears as Diego.”