Diego Armando Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (born 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires) is a former
Argentine football player, and current coach of the Argentine national side. He is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time; he finished first in an internet vote for the FIFA Player of the Century award, and he shared the award with Pelé.

Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, and, most distinguishedly, Napoli. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 World Cup where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's quarter-final round he scored two remarkable goals in a 2-1 victory over England which instantly cemented his fame. The first goal was an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal was a spectacular 60-metre weave through six England players, commonly referred to as "The Goal of the Century".

For various reasons, Maradona is considered one of the sport's most controversial and newsworthy figures. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991 after failing a doping test for cocaine in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the USA for using ephedrine.After retiring from playing on his 37th birthday in 1997,he increasingly suffered ill health and weight gain, hardly helped by ongoing cocaine abuse. In 2005 a stomach stapling operation helped control his weight gain. After overcoming his cocaine addiction, he became a popular TV host in Argentina.
Although he had little previous managerial experience, he became head coach of the Argentina national football team in November 2008


Early years

Diego Armando Maradona was born in Lanús, but raised in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, to a poor family that had moved from Corrientes Province. He was the first son after three daughters. He has two younger brothers, Hugo (el Turco) and Eduardo (Lalo), both of whom were also professional football players.At age 10, Maradona was spotted by a talent scout while he was playing in his neighborhood club Estrella Roja. He became a staple of Los Cebollitas (The Little Onions), the junior team of Buenos Aires's Argentinos Juniors. As a 12-year-old ball boy, he amused spectators by showing his wizardry with the ball during the halftime intermissions of first division games.

Personal information

Full name Diego Armando Maradona Franco
Date of birth 30 October 1960 (1960-10-30) (age 48)
Place of birth Lanús, Argentina
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing position Attacking Midfielder/Second Striker

Youth career
1969–1976 Argentinos Juniors

Senior career*
Years Club Apps† (Gls)†
1976–1981 Argentinos Juniors 166 (116)
1981–1982 Boca Juniors 40 (28)
1982–1984 FC Barcelona 36 (22)
1984–1991 Napoli 188 (115)
1992–1993 Sevilla 26 (5)
1993 Newell's Old Boys 7 (0)
1995–1997 Boca Juniors 30 (7)
Total 490 (258)

National team
1977–1994 Argentina 91 (34)

Teams managed
1994 Mandiyú de Corrientes
1995 Racing Club
2008– Argentina

Retirement and honours:

Hounded for years by the press, Maradona once fired a compressed-air rifle at reporters who he claimed were invading hisprivacy. This quote from former teammate Jorge Valdano summarizes the feelings of many:He is someone many people want to emulate, a controversial figure, loved, hated, who stirs great upheaval, especially in Argentina... Stressing his personal life is a mistake. Maradona has no peers inside the pitch, but he has turned his life into a show, and is now living a personal ordeal that should not be imitated. In 2000, Maradona published his autobiography Yo Soy El Diego ("I am The Diego"), which became an instant bestseller in his home country. Two years later, Maradona donated the Cuban royalties of his book to "the Cuban people and Fidel.

FIFA conducted a fan poll on the Internet in 2000, to elect the Player of the Century. Maradona finished top of the poll with 53.6% of the vote. Subsequently, however, and contrary to the original announcement of how the award would be decided, FIFA appointed a "Football Family" committee of football experts that voted to award Pelé the title. Maradona protested at the change in procedure, and declared he would not attend the ceremony if Pelé replaced him. Eventually, two awards were made, one to each of the pair. Maradona accepted his prize, but left the ceremony without waiting to see Pelé receive his accoladeIn 2001, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) asked FIFA for authorization to retire the jersey number 10 for Maradona.FIFA did not grant the request, even though Argentine officials have maintained that FIFA hinted that it would.

Maradona has won other fan polls, including a 2002 FIFA poll in which his second goal against England was chosen as the best goal ever scored in a World Cup; he also won the most votes in a poll to determine the All-Time Ultimate World Cup Team.Argentinos Juniors named its stadium after Maradona on 26 December 2003.
On 22 June 2005, it was announced that Maradona would return to Boca Juniors as sports vice president in charge of managing the First Division roster (after a disappointing 2004–05 season, which coincided with Boca's centenary).[22] His contract began 1 August 2005, and one of his first recommendations proved to be very effective: he was the one who decided to hire Alfio Basile as the new coach. With Maradona fostering a close relationship with the players, Boca went on to win the 2005 Apertura title, the 2006 Clausura title, the 2005 Copa Sudamericana and the 2005 Recopa Sudamericana.On 15 August 2005, Maradona made his debut as host of a talk-variety show on Argentine television, La Noche del 10 ("The Night of the no. 10"). His main guest on opening night was Pelé; the two had a friendly chat, showing no signs of past differences. However, the show also included a cartoon villain with a clear physical resemblance to Pelé. In subsequent

evenings, he led the ratings on all occasions but one. Most guests were drawn from the worlds of football and show business,

including Zidane, Ronaldo and Hernán Crespo, but also included interviews with other notable personalities such as Fidel Castro and Mike Tyson.
On 26 August 2006, it was announced that Maradona was quitting his position in the club Boca Juniors because of disagreements with the AFA, who selected Basile to be the new coach of the Argentina National Football Team.
The award-winning Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica made a documentary about Maradona's life, entitled Maradona.

In May 2006, Maradona agreed to take part in UK's Soccer Aid (a program to raise money for Unicef). In September 2006,Maradona, in his famous blue and white number 10, was the captain for Argentina in a three-day World Cup of Indoor Football tournament in Spain.

Also in 2006, Diego Maradona was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador of the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition, IIMSAM.

Managerial career

Club management

He attempted to work as a coach on two short stints, leading Mandiyú of Corrientes (1994) and Racing Club (1995), but without much success.

International management

After the resignation of Argentina national football team coach Alfio Basile in 2008, Diego Maradona immediately proposed his candidacy for the vacant role. According to several press sources, his major challengers included Diego Simeone, Carlos Bianchi, Miguel Ángel Russo and Sergio Batista. On October 29, 2008, AFA chairman Julio Grondona confirmed that Maradona would be the head coach of the national side from December 2008. On 19 November, 2008, Diego Maradona managed Argentina for the first time when Argentina played against Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow which Argentina won 1-0. The city of Glasgow plays a significant part in Maradona's history as it was at Hampden Park in Glasgow that Maradona scored his first goal for Argentina in 1979. 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, and three other defeats in the qualification tournament for the World Cup which have left his side in fifth place, outside the automatic qualification places for the tournament.

Drug abuse and health issues

From the mid-1980s until 2004 Diego Maradona was addicted to cocaine. He allegedly began using the drug in Barcelona in 1983. By the time he was playing for Napoli he had a regular addiction, which began to interfere with his ability to play football.Over the years following his retirement his health seriously deteriorated. Maradona had a tendency to put on weight, and suffered increasingly from obesity from the end of his playing career until undergoing gastric bypass surgery in a clinic in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 6 March 2005. When Maradona resumed public appearances shortly thereafter, he displayed a notably thinner figure.

On 18 April 2004, doctors reported that Maradona had suffered a major heart attack following a cocaine overdose; he was

admitted to intensive care in a Buenos Aires hospital. Scores of fans gathered around the clinic. Days after the heartattack, a nurse was caught taking photos of Maradona with a mobile phone and was promptly fired by the hospital managers. He was taken off the respirator on 23 April and remained in intensive care for several days before being discharged on 29 April. He returned to Cuba, where he had spent most of his time in the years leading up to the heart attack, in May.

On 29 March 2007, Maradona was readmitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires. He was treated for hepatitis and effects of alcohol abuse, and was released on 11 April, but re-admitted two days later.[34] In the following days there were constant rumors about his health, including three false claims of his death within a month. After transfer to a psychiatric clinic specialising in alcohol-related problems, he was discharged on May 7.

On 8 May 2007, Maradona appeared on Argentine television and stated that he had quit drinking and had not used drugs in two and a half years.


Honours

Club

* Boca Juniors
o Primera División: 1981

* Barcelona
o Copa del Rey: 1983
o Copa de la Liga: 1983
o Spanish Super Cup: 1983

* Napoli
o Serie A: 1987, 1990
o Coppa Italia: 1987
o UEFA Cup: 1989
o Italian Super Cup: 1990

Country

* Argentina
o FIFA World Youth Championship: 1979
o FIFA World Cup:
+ Winner: 1986
+ Runner-up: 1990
o Artemio Franchi Trophy: 1993
o 75th anniversary FIFA Cup: 1979

Individual

* Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1979
* Argentine league Top Scorer: 1979, 1980, 1981
* Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986
* South American Footballer of the Year (El Mundo, Caracas):1979, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992
* Italian Guerin d'Oro: 1985
* Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Year: 1986
* Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA World Cup: 1986
* Best Footballer in the World Onze d'Or: 1986, 1987
* World Player of the Year (World Soccer Magazine): 1986
* Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer): 1987-88
* Golden Ball for services to football (France Football): 1996
* Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Century: 1999
* "FIFA best football player of the century", people's choice: 2000
* "FIFA Goal of the Century" (1986 (2–1) v. England; second goal): 2002
* Argentine Senate "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento" recognition for lifetime achievement: 2005