Maradona was a bold, fast, and utterly unpredictable footballer. He was so adept in attack and juggling the ball easily from one foot to the other, shrugging off countless opponents and often scored with his astounding left foot, his most lethal arsenal.
However, Diego Maradona was a shoddy footballer, nevertheless a perfect celebrity athlete. His faults, inconsistencies, contradictions, and transgression were explicit in his playing days but became even unclouded as he grew older.
Diego Armando Maradona passed away at the age of 60, according to reports in Argentina, November 25th, 2020, few weeks after having a successful surgery for a blood clot in his brain and a month after his 60th birthday on October 30th.
“Me Siento mal” (“I don’t feel well”) was the last word of former Argentina, Napoli legend who suffered a heart attack at his home in the San Andres neighborhood in the town of Tigre on Wednesday before he kicked the bucket, despite progressing well health-wise following his surgery on November 3rd.
It has been 12, 576 days since Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal broke the heart of the English at the 1986 World Cup for ‘La Albiceleste’ in the quarter-finals which made the world portrayed him as a god and a villain.
Every great or bad story in life has a beginning and Maradona’s transgression got off to a flyer in the mid-1980s at the height of his career.
Like a lot of other people, “El Pibe de Oro” (The Golden Kid) began using cocaine which developed into an addiction to both alcohol and smoking.
It was a problem for the Argentine at the peak of his game, which actually ran from 1976-1997 with him leading ‘La Albiceleste’ to World Cup glory in 1986.
Maradona’s Transgression
El Pibe de Oro’s drug intake began while playing for Barcelona in 1982, and worsen thanks to his mafia lifestyle and connection with Comorra crime boss ‘Carmine Giuliano‘ at Napoli, when he moved to Naples in 1984.
During his two years stint with the Catalan giant, he often time found himself in trouble with the Barcelona authority.
According to the late former Barcelona President Josep Lluis Nunez in an interview revealed that it was a combination of Maradona not living up to the image he believed Barcelona players should project, a drug issue and the promise of more money made him sell “El Pibe de Oro”.
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The complaint of police authority to Nunez concerning his drug issue, his cockiness, and refusal to back down from a fight with the entire Athletic Bilbao team saw him clashed with the club’s management, which led him out of the club he could have gone on to become a legend.
However, despite his two years stint at Camp Nou, Maradona did serve the Catalan faithful with a lot of magic moments, even at the club rival ground, he got himself a standing ovation in Bernabeu.
Maradona’s refusal to back down from the brawl he had with the Bilbao team got him a lengthy ban for his violent performance.
Instead of him serving his ban he decided he would rather quit Spanish football having won the Copa Del Rey, Copa de la Liga, and Supercopa de Espana in 1983 than serve out his suspension which facilitated his surprise move to Napoli, where his drug intake worsen.
In 1991, ‘El Pibe de Oro‘ was banned for 15 months by Napoli after he tested positive for drug usage. The same year he was also busted in Argentina for carrying half a kilo of cocaine, which got him a 14-month suspension sentence.
At Maradona’s last major tournament at the USA 1994 World Cup, he was again found culpable to have tested positive with a cocktail of a banned substance linked to keeping his ballooning weight under control.
In 2014, the late legend joked in an interview with the media that “I gave my opponents a big advantage. Do you know the player I could have been if I hadn’t taken drugs?”
Perhaps if he hadn’t taken drugs as he said, he could have been greater, undented, or even had any record of transgression in his entire career.
Like every other player who grew up in an impoverished area, Maradona’s first contact with soccer came at his tender age was when he was given a soccer ball as a gift by his cousin, Beto Zarate. The soccer ball gift that turned Armando ‘Man in Army’ to a god in Argentina came on his 3rd birthday.
Right from his young age, it was evident that ‘El Pibe de Oro‘ has greatness in him. To avoid his ball been stolen young Diego slept with the ball inside his shirt for nearly 6 months.
Maradona’s ball was sometimes seized by his mother who wanted him to study, in other to become a professional accountant. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way and in no time his mother finally realized football was his calling, passion, dream, and love.
Like a whirlwind, “The Golden Kid” took a liking to football at the young age of 9, at that time he had learned to play football. His first team ‘Little Onions’ was where he began his quest for greatness, and while he was with the team he led them to win 140 straight games.
At age 9, his excellent dribbling, sublime assists, accurate passes, and mind-blowing footwork made Maradona rise up to the rank of a star in a short period. Having wowed the fans with his talent at that age with Little Onions, things changed for him which got him the chance to play for another team ‘Los Cebollitos‘ at age 12.
At 15, Maradona came with a different experience in his quest to play football, he got the opportunity to don the jersey of Argentinos Juniors for his professional debut where he went on to score 116 goals in 166 games then to Boca Junior in 1981.
The pinnacle of his ‘god’ status and career began as a member of the ‘La Albiceleste’ national team, which he led to win the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.
Maradona further announced himself to the world at the tournament, scoring a controversial goal with his hand in the quarter-finals that sent the English home, which he later claimed was a ‘Hand of God’ goal.
Not controversial, but yet a brilliant goal was his second goal in that match which required him to dribbled past an onslaught of defenders, to put the ball at the back of the net for Argentina.
After ‘La Albiceleste’ disappointing in the 1982 World Cup and then with Barcelona, Maradona arrived at Napoli in 1984 having left Barcelona with a brawl and refusal to serve his ban. The diminutive midfielder did go on to become a god winning two Scudetto, a Coppa, a Super Cup, and a UEFA Cup for the Naples faithful.
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Among some of his stepping stone en route to Europe was Sevilla, where he was given a chance for redemption after his long time ban for cocaine use ended his time at Naples. Sevilla offered him a second chance, but his stint with the Los Palanganas was brief with eight goals in 29 appearances which culminated in a trip back home to Boca Junior.
Call him a drug addict or serial womanizer, his transgression would never degrade his greatness among those people who worshipped him, the sheer belief and determination to be the best and take his family out of poverty. To many, in their heart, he remains one of the best footballers to ever graced the pitch
In what was a turbulent career for him due to his addiction to drugs, Diego Armando Maradona was fortunate enough to play in four World Cup, scored an impressive 34 goals in 91 international appearances for ‘La Albiceleste’.
The final month of ‘El Pibe de Oro’ was full of complications that culminated in his demise yet he was able to conquer the world with his talent and sheer passion for the game.
Maradona was a flawless emblem of a flawed athlete – a footballer with all the gifts, yet without a clue how to conserve and nourish them. But it is Diego Maradona’s magic with the ball at his feet, not his transgressions, which will live on in the memories of all football enthusiasts.
