Diego Armando Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine retired professional footballer. He has served as a manager and coach at other clubs as well as the national team of Argentina. Many in the sport, including football writers, players, and fans, regard Maradona as the greatest football player of all time. He was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé.

Maradona is the first player in football history to set the world record transfer fee twice,  first when he transferred to Barcelona for a then world record £5 million, and second, when he transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9 million. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli, where he won numerous accolades. In his international career with Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals.

Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico where he captained Argentina and led them to victory over West Germany in the final, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

Maradona became coach of Argentina in November 2008. He was in charge of the team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. He coached Dubai-based club Al Wasl in the UAE Pro-League for the 2011–12 season. In August 2013, Maradona joined Argentine Primera D club Deportivo Riestra's staff as "spiritual coach". after Deportivo Riestra may 2017, he appointed head coach of Al-Fujairah.

Childhood

Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960, in Villa Fiorito, a province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The fifth of eight children raised by Diego Sr. and Doña Tota, Maradona grew up in a poor but close-knit household. He received his first soccer ball as a gift at age 3 and quickly became devoted to the game.

At 10, Maradona joined Los Cebollitas, a youth team of Argentinos Juniors, one of the biggest clubs in Argentina. Showing his prodigious ability at an early age, Maradona led Los Cebollitas to an incredible 136-game unbeaten streak. He made his professional debut for the senior team shortly before his 16th birthday.

Professional Career

Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors

On 20 October 1976, Maradona made his professional debut for Argentinos Juniors, 10 days before his 16th birthday. He entered to the pitch wearing the number 16 jersey, and after the game stated, "That day I felt I had held the sky in my hands." Maradona scored his first goal in the Primera División against Marplatense team San Lorenzo on 14 November 1976, two weeks after turning 16. Maradona spent five years at Argentinos Juniors, from 1976 to 1981, scoring 115 goals in 167 appearances before his US$ 4 million transfer to Boca Juniors.  Maradona received offers to join other clubs, including River Plate who offered to make him the club's best paid player. Nevertheless, Maradona expressed his will to be transferred to Boca Juniors, the team he always wanted to play for.

Maradona signed a contract with Boca Juniors on 20 February 1981. He made his debut two days later against Talleres de Córdoba, scoring twice in the club's 4–1 win. On 10 April, Maradona played his first Superclásico against River Plate at La Bombonera. Boca defeated River 3–0 with Maradona scoring a goal after dribbling past Alberto Tarantini and Fillol. Despite the distrustful relationship between Maradona and Boca Juniors manager, Silvio Marzolini, Boca had a successful season, winning the league title after securing a point against Racing Club. That would be the only title won by Maradona in the Argentine domestic league.

Barcelona

After the 1982 World Cup, in June, Maradona was transferred to Barcelona in Spain for a then world record fee of £5 million ($7.6 million). In 1983, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona won the Copa del Rey(Spain's annual national cup competition), beating Real Madrid, and the Spanish Super Cup, beating Athletic Bilbao. On 26 June 1983, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid on the road in one of the world's biggest club games, El Clásico, a match where Maradona scored and became the first Barcelona player to be applauded by archrival Real Madrid fans. The manner of the goal led to many inside the stadium start applauding; only Ronaldinho (in November 2005) and Andrés Iniesta (in November 2015) have since been granted such an ovation as Barcelona players from Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Due to illness and injury as well as controversial incidents on the field, Maradona had a difficult tenure in Barcelona. First a bout of hepatitis, then a broken ankle in a La Liga game at the Camp Nou in September 1983 caused by an ill-timed tackle by Athletic Bilbao's Andoni Goikoetxea, threatened to jeopardize Maradona's career, but with treatment and therapy, it was possible for him to return to the pitch after a three-month recovery period.

The end of the 1983–84 season included a violent and chaotic fight Maradona was directly involved in at the 1984 Copa del Rey final at the Santiago Bernabéu against Athletic Bilbao. After receiving another rough tackle by Goikoetxea which wounded his leg, being taunted with xenophobic insults throughout the match by Bilbao fans, and being provoked by Bilbao's Miguel Sola at full time as Barcelona lost 1–0, Maradona snapped. He aggressively got up, stood inches from Sola's face and the two exchanged words. This started a chain reaction of emotional reactions from both teams. Using expletives, Sola mimicked a gesture from the crowd towards Maradona by using a xenophobic term. Maradona then headbutted Sola, elbowed another Bilbao player in the face and kneed another player in the head, knocking him out cold.  The Bilbao squad surrounded Maradona to exact some retribution with Goikoetxea connecting with a high kick to his chest, before the rest of the Barcelona squad joined in to help Maradona. From this point, Barcelona and Bilbao players brawled on the field with Maradona in the centre of the action, kicking and punching anyone in a Bilbao shirt.

The mass brawl was played out in front of the Spanish King Juan Carlos and an audience of 100,000 fans inside the stadium, and more than half of Spain watching on television. Sixty people were injured, with the incident effectively sealing Maradona's transfer out of the club in what was his last game in a Barcelona shirt. One Barcelona executive stated, "When I saw those scenes of Maradona fighting and the chaos that followed I realized we couldn't go any further with him." Maradona got into frequent disputes with FC Barcelona executives, particularly club president Josep Lluís Núñez, culminating with a demand to be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984. During his two injury-hit seasons at Barcelona, Maradona scored 38 goals in 58 games. Maradona transferred to Napoli in Italy's Serie A for another world record fee, £6.9 million ($10.48M).

Napoli

Maradona arrived in Naples and was presented to the world media as a Napoli player on 5 July 1984, where he was welcomed by 75,000 fans at his presentation at the Stadio San Paolo.At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career: he soon inherited the captain's armband from Napoli veteran defender Giuseppe Bruscolotti and quickly became an adored star among the club's fans; in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Maradona played for Napoli at a period when North-South tensions in Italy were at a peak due to a variety of issues, notably the economic differences between the two. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their first ever Serie A Italian Championship in 1986–87. The following season, the team's prolific attacking trio, formed by Maradona, Bruno Giordano and Careca, was later dubbed the "Ma-Gi-Ca" (magic) front-line.

Napoli would win their second league title in 1989–90, and finish runners up in the league twice, in 1987–88 and 1988–89. Other honors during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia in 1987, (second place in the Coppa Italia in 1989), the UEFA Cup in 1989 and the Italian Supercup in 1990. Despite primarily playing in a creative role as an attacking midfielder, Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987–88, with 15 goals, and is the all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli, with 115 goals.

While Maradona was successful on the field during his time in Italy, his personal problems increased. His cocaine use continued, and he received US $70,000 in fines from his club for missing games and practices, ostensibly because of "stress". He faced a scandal there regarding an illegitimate son, and he was also the object of some suspicion over an alleged friendship with the Camorra. Later on, in honour of Maradona and his achievements during his career at Napoli, the number 10 jersey of Napoli was officially retired.

After serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test for cocaine, Maradona left Napoli in disgrace in 1992. Despite interest from Real Madrid and Marseille, he signed for Sevilla, where he stayed for one year. In 1993, he played for Newell's Old Boys and in 1995 returned to Boca Juniors for a two-year stint. Maradona also appeared for Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly match against Internazionale, shortly before the 1986 World Cup. The match was a testimonial for Osvaldo Ardiles, who insisted that his friend Maradona play.

International career

During his time with the Argentina national team, Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances. He made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary, on 27 February 1977. Maradona was left off the Argentine squad for the 1978 World Cup on home soil by coach César Luis Menotti who felt he was too young at age 17. At age 18, Maradona played the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan and emerged as the star of the tournament, shining in Argentina's 3–1 final win over the Soviet Union. On 2 June 1979, Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park.

Maradona played his first World Cup tournament in 1982 in his new country of residence, Spain. Argentina played Belgium in the opening game of the 1982 Cup at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Maradona captained the Argentine national team to victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, winning the final in Mexico City against West Germany.

Maradona captained Argentina again in the 1990 World Cup in Italy to yet another World Cup final. At the final in Rome, Argentina lost 1–0 to West Germany,

At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Maradona played in only two games and scoring one goal against Greece, before being sent home after failing a drug test for ephedrine doping. In his autobiography, Maradona argued that the test result was due to his personal trainer giving him the power drink Rip Fuel. His claim was that the U.S. version, unlike the Argentine one, contained the chemical and that, having run out of his Argentine dosage, his trainer unwittingly bought the U.S. formula. FIFA expelled him from USA '94, and Argentina were subsequently eliminated in the second round by Romania in Los Angeles. Maradona has also separately claimed that he had an agreement with FIFA, on which the organization reneged, to allow him to use the drug for weight loss before the competition in order to be able to play. His failed drugs test at the 1994 World Cup signaled the end of his international career, which had lasted 17 years and yielded 34 goals from 91 games.

Managerial career

Club management

He attempted to work as a coach alongside former Argentinos Juniors midfield team mate Carlos Fren. The pair led Mandiyú of Corrientes(1994) and Racing Club (1995), but with little success. In May 2011 he became manager of Dubai club Al Wasl FC in the United Arab Emirates. Maradona was sacked on 10 July 2012. he been appointed as coach of second division side Al-Fujairah(2017)  in the United Arab Emirates.

International management

After the resignation of Argentina national team coach Alfio Basile in 2008, AFA chairman Julio Grondona confirmed that Maradona would be the head coach of the national team from December 2008. On 19 November 2008, Maradona managed Argentina for the first time when Argentina played against Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which Argentina won 1–0.

After winning his first three matches in charge of the national team, he oversaw a 6–1 defeat to Bolivia, equalling the team's worst ever margin of defeat. With two matches remaining in the qualification tournament for the 2010 World Cup, Argentina was in fifth place and faced the possibility of failing to qualify, but victory in the last two matches secured qualification for the finals.

At the World Cup finals in June 2010,  Argentina started by winning 1–0 against Nigeria, followed by a 4–1 victory over South Korea on the strength of a Gonzalo Higuaín hat-trick. In the final match of the group stage, Argentina won 2–0 against Greece to win the group and advance to a second round, meeting Mexico. After defeating Mexico 3–1, however, Argentina was routed by Germany 4–0 in the quarter-finals to go out of the competition. After the defeat to Germany,  AFA announced that its board had unanimously decided not to renew his contract.

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors

·         Argentine Primera División: 1981 Metropolitano

Barcelona

·         Copa del Rey: 1983

·         Copa de la Liga: 1983

·         Supercopa de España: 1983

Napoli

·         Serie A: 1986–87, 1989–90

·         Coppa Italia: 1986–87

·         UEFA Cup: 1988–89

·         Supercoppa Italiana: 1990

 

International

Argentina

·         FIFA World Youth Championship: 1979

·         75th anniversary FIFA Cup: 1979

·         FIFA World Cup: 1986; Runner-up 1990

·         Artemio Franchi Trophy: 1993

Individual

·         Argentine Primera División top scorers (5): 1978 Metropolitano, 1979 Metropolitano, 1979 Nacional, 1980 Metropolitano, 1980 Nacional

·         FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Ball: 1979

·         FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Shoe: 1979

·         World Player of the Year (Guerin Sportivo): 1979

·         Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year (4): 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986

·         South American Footballer of the Year (2): (official award) 1979, 1980

·         Olimpia de Oro (2): 1979, 1986

·         Guerin d'Oro (Serie A Footballer of the Year): 1985

·         Onze de Bronze (2): 1985, 1988

·         UNICEF European Footballer of the Season: 1989–90

·         FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1986

·         FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe: 1986

·         FIFA World Cup Most Assists: 1986

·         FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1986, 1990

·         Onze d'Or (2): 1986, 1987

·         Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Year: 1986

·         L'Équipe Champion of Champions: 1986

·         United Press International Athlete of the Year Award: 1986

·         World Soccer Awards Player of the Year: 1986

·         South American Player of the Year (4): (unofficial award) 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992

·         Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer): 1987–88

·         Coppa Italia top scorer: 1987–88

·         FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball: 1990

·         South American Team of the Year: 1995

·         Ballon d'Or for services to football (France Football): 1996

·         World Team of the 20th Century: 1998

·         World Soccer The Greatest Players of the 20th century: (#2) 1999

·         Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Century: 1999

·         Marca Leyenda: 1999

·         Number 10 retired by Napoli football team as a recognition to his contribution to the club: 2000

·         FIFA Player of the Century: 2000

·         FIFA Goal of the Century (for his second goal against England in 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final): 2002

·         FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2002

·         Golden Foot: 2003, as football legend

·         FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers: 2004

·         Argentine Senate "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento" recognition for lifetime achievement: 2005

·         Globe Soccer Awards Player Career Award: 2012

·         World Soccer Greatest XI of all time: 2013

·         Napoli all-time Top Scorer

·         Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2014

·         L'Équipe's top 50 South-American footballers in history: #2

·         FIFA World Cup All-Time Team