Diego Maradona was born on October 30th, 1960. He
is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to play soccer. He transferred
to Barcelona for a record 5 million euro fee. He then broke his own record fee
by transferring to Napoli for 6.9 million euros. Maradona also played for the
Argentine national team, where he impressed many people with his shots and his
wizardry with handling the ball. He was born in a shantytown on the outskirts
of Buenos Aires. When he was 8, a local scout spotted him playing on the street
with his friends on a soccer team. He
became a staple of Los Cebollitas “The
Little Onions”, the junior team of Buenos Aires's Argentinos Juniors. He looked up to Manchester United winger George
Best as one of the players who inspired
him when he was growing up.
After
the 1982 World Cup, in June, Maradona was transferred to FC
Barcelona in Spain , setting a world record fee of £5m ($7.6m). In 1983, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona won the Copa
del Rey beating Real
Madrid, and the Spanish
Super Cup, beating Athletic
Bilbao. In one of the El Classico games, where FC
Barcelona was pitted against Real Madrid, he led Barca to victory. By doing
that, he was the first player to get applauded by the other side. He was injury
plagued during his tenure in Barcelona, and got into fights with the front
office often.
He then transferred to Napoli for a
record breaking 6.9 million euros. The Napoli fans were sure that their savior
had come, especially after a string of losing seasons. First, he had to play in
1986 world cup. In a quarterfinal against England, he scored two amazing goals.
The first one was called the hand of god. Apparently, Maradona batted the ball
into the goal with his hand, but the ref didn’t see it and awarded Argentina a
goal. Next, he scored the goal of the century. He juked all 11 England players
on a coast-to-coast goal. He ran along the entire length of the field with possession
of the ball. At the end of the run, he faked a kick, and even juked out the
goalie. It is one of the most memorable games in soccer history. He led the
Argentine team all the way to the finals, where they defeated West Germany in
front of 115,000 people in Mexico City. At the end of it all, the judges
awarded him the Golden Ball, which is for the best player in the tournament, by
a unanimous vote. He is regarded as to have winning the world cup all by
himself. Later, at Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his career. He was
adored by all of the fans, and led Napoli to two Italy Serie A championships
and to 2nd place twice. In the 1990 world cup, he again captained
the team to the final, but this time they lost to West Germany.
Maradona is widely criticized because
of his drug and cocaine addiction, but in most peoples mind, he is one of the
greatest players in the world.
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