Diego Maradona

Biography

Born on 30 October 1960 in Lanús, on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego Armando Maradona grew up in the slums of Fiorito, one of eight children in a family of humble origins. It was on those dirt-track streets that young Diego developed his extraordinary dribbling ability, almost supernaturally low centre of gravity, and devastating acceleration.

Handed his professional debut by Argentinos Juniors in October 1976, ten days before his sixteenth birthday, Maradona immediately imposed his unique style. He won the Argentine league with Boca Juniors in 1981, then joined FC Barcelona in 1982 for a then-world record fee, but his time in Spain was troubled by illness and injury. In June 1984, Napoli broke the world transfer record again to bring him to southern Italy, where he would produce what many regard as the greatest individual achievement in club football history.

In Naples, Maradona elevated the long-underestimated southern club to its first two Serie A titles (1987 and 1990), a Coppa Italia (1987) and a UEFA Cup (1989), becoming a near-divine figure to the city's inhabitants. But it was at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico that he achieved his absolute masterpiece: in the quarterfinal against England, within four minutes, he scored the “Hand of God” (punched in with his left fist) and the “Goal of the Century” (a sixty-metre solo run past five English players and the goalkeeper), voted the greatest goal in World Cup history in a 2002 FIFA poll. He led Argentina to the title, beating West Germany 3-2 in the final.

His later career was marked by cocaine addiction and several high-profile suspensions. After spells at Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys and a return to Boca Juniors, he retired in 1997 at thirty-six. Diego Maradona died on 25 November 2020 from a cardiac arrest, weeks after brain surgery. His passing triggered national mourning in Argentina and worldwide grief. He remains the most beloved and most complex figure in football history: a pure genius whose transcendent talent was never diminished by the turbulence of his life.