THE RISE AND FALL OF MARADONA-A FOOTBALLING
AVENGER
There
have been many players who swayed the hearts of the viewers with their
beautiful skill and technique in the beautiful game of football.Only few
players are worshipped as ‘GODS’ by the viewers.Maradona belongs to the second
category.
Born
in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province to a very poor family, young
Maradona was brought up in Villa
Fiorito.Young Maradona had only two targets in mind:To
see himself wearing the Argentina national jersey and to become a World
Champion.So he started training with
other street kids in the outskirts of Beunos Aires.
YOUNG MARADONA
The Rise:
At
the age of 10,the talented kid was spotted by a talent scout when the child
prodigy was playing for his neighbourhood club,’Estrella Roja’.The boy quickly
became the backbone of Los Cebollitas(The Little Onions),the junior team of
Argentina based football club Argentinos Juniors.He used to amuse spectors by showing his wizardry on the ball in the
half time intermissions.
MARADONA AT ARGENTINOS JUNIORS
10
days before his 16th birthday,Maradonna made his professional
debut with the senior team of
Argentionos Juniors.He played there between 1976 and 1981,scoring 115 goals in
117 appearances before his 1million GBP transfer to Argentina football giants
Boca Juniors .A year later,Maradonna picked silverware in the form of the
league championship medal.
MARADONA AT BOCA JUNIORS
Maradonna finally
fulfilled his dream of donning
the national jersey by making a full international debut at age 16,
against Hungary on 27 February
1977. At age 18, he played the World
Youth Championship for Argentina, and was the star of the tournament, shining
in their 3–1 final win over the Soviet
Union.
MARADONA AFTER THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
On 2 June 1979,
Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park.Maradona played his first World
Cup tournament in 1982. Argentina played Belgium in the opening
game of the 1982 Cup in Barcelona. The Catalan crowd was eager to see their new
world-record signing Diego Maradona in action, but he did not perform to
expectations.Argentina, the defending champions, lost to Belgium 1–0. Although the team convincingly beat Hungary
and El Salvador to progress to the second round, they were defeated in the
second round byBrazil and by
eventual winners Italy
MARADONA IN ACTION IN 1982
WORLD CUP
After the 1982 World Cup in June, Maradona
was transferred to FC Barcelona in Spain for a
then world record fee of£5m ($7.6m). In 1983, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and
Maradona won the Copa del Rey (Spain's annual
national cup competition), beating Real Madrid, and the Spanish Super Cup, beating Athletic Bilbao. However, Maradona
had a difficult tenure in Barcelona.First a bout
with hepatitis, then a broken ankle
caused by an ill-timed tackle by Athletic's Andoni Goikoetxea threatened with
jeopardizing Maradona's career, but after treatment and therapy it was possible
for him to soon be back on the pitch.
MARADONA AT BARCELONA
During his two
injury-hit seasons at Barcelona, Maradona scored 38 goals in 58 games. At
Barcelona, Maradona got into frequent disputes with the team's directors,
especially club president Josep Lluís Núñez, culminating with a demand to
be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984. He was
transferred to Napoli in
Italy's Serie A for
another world record fee, £6.9m ($10.48m).
MARADONA ARRIVES AT
NAPOLI
At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional
career. He quickly became an adored star among the club's fans, and in his time
there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Led by
Maradona, Napoli won their only Serie A Italian Championships in 1986/87
and 1989/1990, placing second in the league twice, in 1987/88 and 1988/89.
Other honors during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia in 1987, (second place in the Coppa Italia in 1989), the UEFA
Cup in 1989 and the Italian
Supercup in 1990. Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987/88.
Maradona finally
achieved the holy grail of International football,the world cup in 1986.It was
in this world cup that the world came to know about the mecurial player who
played every minute in the game.He scored 5 goals and 5 assists in the
process,but two of these goals standout,both scored against England in the Semi-finals.The first,scored with his hand,controversially
named as ’Hand of God’ goal and the second one ‘Goal of the Century’ which
marked his genius as he dribbled past 5 English players before going on to
score. He is the only
player to win the Golden Ball at both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup, in 1979 and 1986 respectively.
MARADONA AFTER THE WORLD CUP WIN
The Fall:
Every fairy tale has a demon.Maradona’s life is no
exception.Maradona was a cocaine addict from the mid 1980s until 2000.He
allegedly began using the drug in 1983 when he played for Barcelona.By the time
he joined Napoli,he was a regular addict,which began to interfere with his
play.
Though
Argentina reached the 1990 world cup finals only to be eventual runnerup,cocaine
began to take its toll on the former world cup winner. After serving a 15-month
ban for failing a drug test for cocaine, Maradona left Napoli in disgrace in 1992. Despite
interest from Real Madrid of Spain and Olympique
Marseille of France, he signed for Sevilla of Spain, where he stayed for one year.In 1993 he played
for Newell's Old Boys.He
was even sent home from the 1994 World Cup after another failed drug test,which
signalled the end of his glorious international career.In 1995 he returned to Boca
Juniors for two years.
MARADONA AFTER GAINING
WEIGHT IN 2005
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.
In 2000, he won FIFA Player of the Century award which was to be decided by votes
on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona
won the Internet based poll by wide margins, garnering 53.6% of the votes
against 18.53% for Pelé. In spite
of this, and shortly before the ceremony, FIFA unexpectedly decided to add a second
award and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of
football journalists that also gave to Pelé the title of best player of the
century to make it a draw.
The rise:
A phoenix rises from the
ashes.Same is the case for MAradona.He became the national coach of football
team after rehabilliation ,numerous weight reduction programmes in 2008.He
framed a winning formula and took Argentina through the qualifying rounds of
world cup 2010 held in South Africa.Th team won every match until the quarter
finals only to be defeated by Germany in the quarter finals.A hero’s welcome
was given to Maradona and the team back home and a promise of a contract
extension until the next world cup was made.However,few days later,the
Argentina Football Association relieved Maradona of his duties.An ill-fated one
year reign in a Dubai based club followed.
COACHING ARGENTINA
Still idol to millions,Maradona’s image as
a mecurial footballer will never be forgotten and The Goal of the Century will
always be in the hearts of fans aslong as a football is kicked on this earth.
MARADONNA STILL WORSHIPPED IN NAPLES AS A
GOD
Diego Maradona's blaugrana shirt at display in FC Barcelona Museum.
The first meeting of Maradona and Pelé,1979. In 2000 the two players were named joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century
author: SaratChandra.M
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