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Maradona escaped the poverty of his youth to become a football superstar considered by some to be even greater than Brazil's Pele.
When Diego Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup in soccer, he was the top player in the world, and arguably the world's No. 1 sports hero. Just five years later, he was a fallen star, suspended for 15 months after testing positive for cocaine, and later arrested for drug possession. He was born on October 30, 1960 in the poor slums of Villa Fiorito in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Diego grew up with soccer. He was nicknamed "El pibe de oro" (the golden boy). Maradona escaped the poverty of his youth to become a football superstar considered by some to be even greater than Brazil's Pele.
He played with the Argentina youth team in 1979 to win the Junior World Cup. After the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when he was already an idol, he joined Barcelona and played in Spain for two seasons. In 1984 he joined Napoli and won two Italian Championships with them.
His finest display came in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In the quarter-finals Argentina came up against England, their first game since the Falklands War. After a goalless first half, the ball was played over the top of the English defence and Argentina's Diego Maradona and England's keeper Peter Shilton both jumped for it. It appeared that Maradona had headed the ball in for the opening goal but Maradona had punched to ball into the net. Shilton immediately protested that Maradona had handled the ball but the referee ruled that the goal stood. TV replays showed that Shilton was right. Maradona had cheated and used his hand to score.
Maradona later scored a marvellous goal, scything through six English defenders before slotting the ball past Shilton. One player had scored the both the worst and best goals of the tournament in the same game. A consolation goal from Gary Lineker gave England hope but they never really recovered from the first goal. Argentina went on to win the World Cup after beating Germany 3-2 in the final with Maradona the star of the tournament.
After the game, Maradona claimed that the goal was the result of the "Hand of God" and that God had allowed the goal to stand because Argentina had been the better side. Many years later the star apologised and said he was sorry for cheating.
Maradona's troubles began to mount after the 1986 World Cup. In 1989 he had a poor season and his relationship with his Italian club, Napoli, deteriorated. When he was booed as he limped off the field after playing only 17 minutes in a game, Maradona said, "The people who jeered are ignorant cretins. I want to stay in Napoli, but if peace there depends on my leaving, I will go." He missed the deadline for reporting to his team that year, instead going to the Andes to ski. In 1990, Argentina came back to make the World Cup finals again, this time losing to West Germany, 1-0. On 19 January, 1991, Maradona stunned the world by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year. "I can't continue this way," he said. In March, when a cocaine test came back positive, he was suspended for 15 months by several soccer governing bodies. His arrest came in April during a police raid in Buenos Aires. It is estimated that Maradona lost about $20 million in salary and endorsements over the next two years. However, he continued to play football.
In February 1994 Diego Maradona was given a suspended jail sentence for shooting journalists with an air rifle. The case involved an incident when he fired at photographers and reporters outside his Buenos Aires country home, injuring four people. TV footage of the incident showed Maradona, crouching behind a Mercedes with two other men firing an air gun at reporters. However, a court ruling cleared the way for the former Argentine national team captain to travel to America for the World Cup.
In the World Cup of 1994 in the USA, Maradona was tested after the match against Nigeria and was found to have used "ephedrine", a drug not permitted by FIFA. He was suspended from playing soccer for more than a year as punishment. Although Argentina came in with a strong team in the 1994 World Cup, everything went downhill and, without their captain, they were soon defeated.
After the suspension, he started playing again for Boca Juniors until 1997. On October 30, 1997, on his 37th birthday, he retired from football.
Today, Maradona is still addicted to drugs. At the invitation of Fidel Castro he has travelled to Cuba where he is receiving treatment for his drug addiction. However, controversy continues to follow him. Recently he stopped his car and confronted a cameraman and a photographer from the Reuters news agency who had been following him on a shopping trip. Visibly angry, the former Argentina captain punched the car, shattering a window. Hopefully, Maradona will get his life together in the near future. Argentinians still regard him as a national hero.
Evita
Maradona
Juan Peron