Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona dies

Diego Maradona, the great Argentine footballer who was among the best players in history and who led his country to the 1986 World Cup title before later battling cocaine use and obesity, has died. He was 60 years old.

Argentina’s office of the president will decree three days of national mourning for Maradona’s death on Wednesday (Thursday New Zealand time), and the Argentine soccer association expressed its regret on Twitter.

Maradona died two weeks after being discharged from a Buenos Aires hospital after brain surgery.

Famous for the “Hand of God” goal in which he struck the ball into England’s net during the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, Maradona wowed fans during a two-decade career with a style of fascinating game that was completely his.

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Although his reputation was tarnished by his addictions and a dirty trick at the head of the national team, he continued to be idolized in soccer-crazy Argentina as the “Pibe de Oro” or the “Niño de Oro”.

The number 10 that he wore on his jersey became synonymous with him, as it was with Pelé, the great Brazilian with whom Maradona was regularly paired as the best of all time.

Daring, fast and utterly unpredictable, Maradona was a master of the attack, juggling the ball with ease from one foot to the other as he ran upfield. Dodging and weaving with his low center of gravity, he shrugged off countless rivals and often scored with a devastating left foot, his most powerful weapon.

“Everything he was thinking about in his head, he made possible with his feet,” said Salvatore Bagni, who played with Maradona at Italian club Napoli.

A swollen waist slowed Maradona’s explosive speed later in his career and in 1991 he was caught in his first doping scandal when he admitted that he had a cocaine habit that haunted him until he retired in 1997 at age 37.

Hospitalized near death in 2000 and again in 2004 from heart problems attributed to cocaine, he later said he overcame the drug problem. Cocaine, he once said, had proven to be his “toughest rival.”

But more health problems followed, despite a gastric bypass in 2005 that greatly reduced her weight. Maradona was hospitalized in early 2007 for acute hepatitis that his doctor attributed to excessive drinking and eating.

He made an unlikely return to the national team in 2008 when he was appointed Argentina’s coach, but after a quarter-final outing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was sent off and eventually took another coaching job with the Al club. Wasl from the United Arab Emirates. .

Maradona was the fifth of eight children who grew up in a rough and poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where he played a kind of ground soccer that launched many Argentines to international stardom.

None of them came close to Maradona’s fame. In 2001, FIFA named Maradona one of the two greatest in the history of the sport, alongside Pelé.

“Maradona inspires us,” said then-Argentine forward Carlos Tevez, explaining his country’s fascination for Maradona at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. “He is our idol, and an idol to the people.”

Maradona reaped titles at home and abroad, playing in the early 1980s for Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors before moving on to Spanish and Italian clubs. His greatest achievement came at the 1986 World Cup, captaining Argentina in their 3-2 victory over West Germany in the final and decisive in the 2-1 victory against England in a quarter-final match.

On the protests of the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the referee left a Maradona goal standing in which, as he admitted years later, he intentionally hit the ball with his hand in “a bit of mischief.”

But Maradona’s impact would not be limited to cheating. Four minutes later, he dramatically outscored four opponents from midfield to beat Shilton in what FIFA later declared the biggest goal in World Cup history.

Many Argentines saw the match as revenge for their country’s defeat to Great Britain in the 1982 war for the Falkland Islands, which Argentines still claim as “Las Malvinas.”

“It was our way of recovering ‘Las Malvinas,’” Maradona wrote in his 2000 autobiography “I am diego”.

“It was more than trying to win a game. We said that the game had nothing to do with war. But we knew that Argentines had died there, that they had been killed like birds. And this was our revenge. It was something bigger than us: we defended our flag ”.

It was also a vindication for Maradona, who in what he later called “the greatest tragedy” of his career was excluded from the 1978 World Cup squad – which Argentina won at home – because he was only 17 years old.

Maradona said he was given a soccer ball shortly after he was able to run.

“I was three years old and I slept hugging that ball all night,” he said.

At age 10, Maradona gained fame performing at halftime in professional games, surprising the crowd by keeping the ball in the air for minutes on his feet, chest and head. He also made his debut as a player with the Argentinos Juniors youth team, leading a mostly 14-year-old squad in 136 undefeated matches.

“Watching him play was pure happiness, true stardom,” said his teammate Carlos Beltrán.

Maradona played from 1976 to 1981 for the first division club Argentinos Juniors, then went to Boca Juniors for a year before heading to Barcelona for a world record of $ 8 million (NZ $ 11.42 million).

In 1984, Barcelona sold him to Naples, in Italy. He rebuilt their fortunes almost singlehandedly, leading them to the 1987 Italian league championship for their first title in 60 years.

A year after losing the 1990 World Cup final to West Germany, Maradona moved to Spanish club Sevilla, but his career was in decline. He played five games for Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys in 1994 before returning to Boca between 1995 and 1997, his last club and the one closest to his heart.

Drug problems overshadowed his later years as a player.

Maradona failed a doping test in 1991 and was suspended for 15 months, acknowledging his long-time addiction to cocaine. He failed another stimulant doping test and was expelled from the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

In retirement, Maradona frequented Boca matches as a one-man cheering section and participated in charity, sporting and exhibition events around the world. But the already burly striker quickly gained weight and was clearly out of breath as he puffed through friendly matches.

In 2000, in what doctors said was a brush with death, he was hospitalized in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este with a heart that, according to doctors, was pumping at less than half its capacity. Blood and urine samples revealed traces of cocaine.

After another emergency hospitalization in 2004, Maradona was counseled for drug abuse and in September of that year he traveled to Cuba to receive treatment at the Mental Health Center in Havana. There he was visited by his friend, Cuban President Fidel Castro.

In Cuba, Maradona dedicated himself to playing golf and smoking cigars. He frequently praised Castro and the Argentine-born revolutionary “Che” Guevara, who fought with Castro in the Cuban revolution, even sporting a Guevara tattoo on his right arm.

Maradona said he got off drugs there and started a new chapter.

In 2005, he underwent gastric bypass in Colombia, losing nearly 50 kilograms before appearing as the host of a popular Argentine television talk show. On “La noche de los 10,” Maradona turned a dance around with Pelé, interviewed boxer Mike Tyson and Hollywood celebrities, and recorded a lengthy conversation with Castro in Cuba.

In retirement, Maradona also became more outspoken. He frequently attacked former coaches, players, including Pelé, and the Pope. He joined a left-wing protest train in front of the Summit of the Americas in 2005, along with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to denounce the presence of then-President George W. Bush.

His status as an outsider made it even more surprising when he was chosen as Argentina’s coach after the resignation of Alfio Basile.

They won their first three games, but their tactics, selection and attention to detail were called into question after a 6-1 loss to Bolivia in World Cup qualification equaled the worst margin of defeat in Argentina’s history.

Victor Hugo Morales, Argentina’s most popular soccer announcer, said Maradona will finally be remembered for an exciting style of play that has never been duplicated.

“He has been one of the great artists of my time. As great masters of music and painting, he has challenged our intellect and enriched the human spirit, ”Morales said. “Nobody has moved me more and has left me as amazed as Diego.”