DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA: FAREWELL TO THE BEST.

 

 

Yesterday I was thinking about something to write about for or blog when, surfing the Net, breaking news titled: Maradona’s death.

Personally, I’ve never seen him play but, just by watching his videos on YouTube, you can feel his magic with the ball at his feet.

Since I love football, I thought I’d write an article in his honour because he is the player who first made me fall in love with football. So, here we go!

 

A DIFFICULT START

Maradona was born on October 30 ,1960, in Villa Fiorito, a province of Buenos Aires.

His first name has its origins in Greek and Hebrew. It means either a supplanter or a teacher. His middle name is Armando and it means “man in the army”. Diego grew up in poverty, his family was among the poorest in the city and, as if that weren’t enough, it was also a large family.

The first contact with a ball was thanks to a gift from his cousin Beto at the age of three years old.

Little Diego slept with the ball because he was scared that someone could steal it from him.

His mother wanted him to concentrate on studying but a short time later she realized that football was the right path for Diego.

At the age of ten he had an audition for Argentinos Junior team and it went very well so, from there, the rise of “El Pibe de oro” began.

THE BEGINNING OF THE MYTH

He moved to Boca Juniors (the greatest team in Argentina) and,from there, just after the World Cup in Spain, he was bought by Barcelona.

He wasn’t lucky while playing for Barcelona, especially because of a serious injury to his ankle, which, after surgery, had only 75%  of mobility.

Then, in 1984   the turning point of his career came: he moved to Napoli.

 

On 5 July 1984, 80,000 people gave him a hero’s welcome and, after only three seasons he won 2 championships , one Italian Cup and one Italian Supercup but, the most important trophy was the 1986 World Cup, thanks to which he started being recognized as the greatest footballer of all time.

He led Argentina to victory and he also scored two unforgettable goals in the semi-final against England.

One was named “goal of the century”, the other one was scored by hand and we still call that goal “La mano de Dios”.

DIEGO'S DECLINE

1991 was terrible for Diego Armando. He was arrested for drug possession and he was sold by Napoli. Since then, he never recovered.

He was bought first by  Sevilla and afterwards, by Newell’s old boys, an Argentinian club but, the real troubles came after a game against Nigeria, where he tested positive for doping control.

After his retire, he became a coach but he wasn’t very successful.

Now, after these days’ terrible news, all football fans will celebrate his memory and will treasure it since Maradona was a unique artist of football.

Rest in peace, D10s.

Simone Semproni, 3scB