Diego Maradona

Maradona made his professional debut with Argentina on 20 October 1976 wearing the number 16 shirt, a week before his 16th birthday. He scored his first goal in November 1976 two weeks after turning 16. In 1981, he transferred to Boca Juniors, and won the league title with them that same year. His performances at the 1982 FIFA World Cup attracted the interest of FC Barcelona, and they signed him shortly after the tournament.

In the 1984 Copa Del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, Maradona was involved in a fight with several other Bilbao players. During the game, Bilbao player Andoni Goikoetxea made a rough tackle on Maradona, and Bilbao fans insulted Maradona and his family. This made him very angry. Barca lost 1-0, and when he was insulted by Miguel Sola at the end of the match, Maradona lost control and became furious. He headbutted Sola, kneed Bilbao's goalie in the head, elbowed another one in the face, and kicked and punched other players as well.^[4] This ended up being his last game with the Catalan club.^[5]

Maradona signed for Napoli in the summer of 1984 for around €8 million. At his presentation, he was greeted by 75,000 fans at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. He led the club to its first Serie A title in 1987. That same year, he won the Coppa Italia. For the 1987-88 season, Maradona was top scorer of the league, with 15 goals. Napoli also finished second in the league to A.C. Milan. In the 1989 UEFA Cup Final against VfB Stuttgart, Maradona played an important role in Napoli's victory. He scored and assisted Careca's goal in the 2-1 victory during the first leg. In the second leg, he assisted Ciro Ferrara's goal in a 3-3 draw (5-4 on aggregate). The following year, Napoli won the Supercoppa Italiana with a 5-1 demolishing of Juventus.

In March 1991, Maradona failed a drug test for cocaine. He was given a 15-month ban and a fine, so he missed the rest of the 1990-91 season and the entire 1991-92 season. After being allowed to return to football in June 1992, he didn't want to return to Napoli, and he asked for a transfer. He eventually signed for Spanish club Sevilla. He stayed there for one year. He moved back to the Argentine League with Newell's Old Boys in 1993, and stayed there for one season. Maradona ended his career by making a return to Boca Juniors in 1995. He stayed there for two years until retiring on 25 October 1997. He played his last match against Boca's rival River Plate, and Boca won 2-1.^[6]

Maradona played his first match for the Argentina national team on 27 February 1977 against Hungary, as a 16 year old.

Maradona is most famously known for his performance against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter final, where he scored two legendary goals. The first one was controversially scored with his hand. It started with a poor clearance from an English defender that sent the ball into the penalty box. As goalkeeper Peter Shilton came off his line to challenge the ball, Maradona jumped and punched it in past Shilton, while also adding a movement as if he hit the ball with his head that fooled the referees. He later called it the "Hand of God", and said that he used his hand because he knew he was not going to reach the ball. The second one was voted the best goal scored in World Cup history in 2002 and many people call it the "Goal of the Century", where he received the ball behind the half-field line and dribbled five England players before juking out goalkeeper Shilton and passing the ball with his left foot into the open net from 6 yards out. The match ended 2-1 in favor of Argentina.^[7][8]

Argentina won the World Cup after defeating West Germany in the final, and Maradona was named as the tournament's best player.^[9] The British named him "athlete of the decade."

Maradona was addicted to cocaine from the mid-1980s until 2004. During his time at Napoli, he failed a drug test in 1991 and had his conversations wiretapped by police. He was also accused of working with the Italian mafia. In 2000 he suffered a heart attack caused by cocaine overdose.^[10] In 2004, he was placed in intensive care with high blood pressure, respiratory failure, and a lung infection.^[11]

After Maradona retired, he suffered from obesity. At one point, he weighed 280 lbs (130 kg). In March 2005, Maradona had a Gastric bypass surgery in Cartagena, Colombia and was placed on a liquid diet for three months to try to reduce his obesity.^[12]

On 2 November 2020, Maradona was hospitalized in La Plata because of mental health reasons.^[13] A day later, he had emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma.^[14] He was released on 12 November after successful surgery.^[15]

On 25 November 2020, Maradona died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 60.^[16]

Notes

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