Diego Maradona was born with a difficult life, overcoming adversity to become a legend of world football. The football career he created is described with beautiful words. But sadly, drugs changed everything.
The journey to football of Maradona
Diego Maradona was born and raised in Fiorito, a southern suburb of Buenos Aires. Contrary to the busy life of Buenos Aires, Fiorito is another world for the poor and the dilapidated houses since it was not concerned by the government.
To become the star of Fiorito, Diego trained whenever he could from markets, schools to the only train line that runs through the village. In the football games with the village kids, Diego was always a star with the ability to control the ball and impressive speed.
Diego’s biggest dream was to become a professional football player. In the summer of 1969, the life of Diego Maradona turned to a new important direction when he joined in the selection of young talent by Argentinos Juniors. After the selection, Diego was one of the kids selected and officially became a player for the Argentinos Juniors youth team. So, Diego Maradona’s football journey began here.
New history writer for Argentina
It is said by the most reputable sport website in Asia W88 (Link W88) that Maradona resembles Pele football legend that they both debuted for the national team very early when they were only 16 years old. Diego Maradona made his national team debut on February 27, 1977, in a match against Hungary. However, he did not attend the 1978 World Cup due to his young age.
By 1979, Maradona attended the FIFA U20 World Cup in Japan, where he emerged as the fever of the tournament to help Argentina U20 win the championship. Maradona was also awarded the Golden Ball award in this tournament.
The 1982 World Cup was the first time Diego Maradona officially played on the world stage. Despite losing 0-1 to Belgium, Argentina still entered the second round when they won the match against two teams from Hungary and El Salvador. However, that year, Argentina stopped the game early when it hit the Brazilian team.
At the end of that season, Diego Maradona played 450 minutes of official competition with 2 goals scored and 1 red card. He returned to Argentina to train and had to wait 4 years until the 1986 World Cup kicked off to shine.
The 1986 World Cup was held in Mexico. The tournament that year was considered one of the most emotional World Cup finals in football history.
‘The hand of God’
We mention the hand of God because only God knew how Diego Maradona scored against England by hands and was still recognized by Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur. The British were resentful, but the Argentines rejoiced because Maradona was no different for them than a national hero, representing the pride and victory of the country.
On June 25, 1986, Argentina entered the semi-finals against Belgium. Once again, football fans around the world had to hold their breath to watch every step of the man who was called “half-demon, half-god” by the French daily newspaper L’Equipe.
Diego Maradona became a great football player and two goals against Belgium have confirmed it. Argentina stepped into the final battle with West Germany – where they met the football monuments Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthaeus. During the entire match in Mexico, Maradona successfully made 90 crosses and was fouled 53 times. At the end of the tournament, he received the Golden Ball award and the title of the best player in the tournament.
In the summer of 1990, Diego Maradona continued to be the focus of world football. After four years, his run was not as fiery as before. However, he still helped Argentina reach the final after defeating Italy on penalties. Unfortunately, Germany was such a strong team and Argentina has collapsed in front of the solidity of the opponent.
Drug use scandals
Four years later in the US, Diego Maradona continued to dedicate himself to Argentina, but that was also the beginning of a series of his tarnished reputation. When he scored against Greece, Maradona ran to the front of the camera and celebrated with an unusual expression, after which FIFA tested and expelled him to Argentina on the grounds of being doping positive. From then on, people never saw Diego Maradona play in the World Cup again because, after the scandal, he officially announced his retirement.
Conclusions
No matter how stained Maradona’s life was, Diego Maradona is still a legendary football player. Maradona’s football goes beyond the banal limits of mechanical definition, offering spiritual values that cannot be measured or expressed in words.