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Diego Maradona is a retired Argentine professional footballer, who is most famous for his time at Napoli. Here are 48 facts about the football player:
- Maradona is the only player in the history of football to have received record transfer fee twice.
- He was born on October 30, 1960 at Evita Hospital in Lanus, Buenos Aires and was christened Diego Armando Maradona. He spent his early life in Villa Fiorito a town south of Buenos Aires.
- He is one of the six children to Diego Maradona 'Chitoro' and Dalma Salvadora Franco 'Doña Tota'. Both his parents were illegitimate children. He is of Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Indigenous Argentinean ancestry.
- He honed his skill in his neighborhood club ‘Estrella Roja.’ At the age of eight, he was spotted by Francisco Cornejo a youth coach and was inducted into Argentinos Juniors team.
- He was inspired by Brazilian Rivelino and George Best of Northern Ireland growing up. He had exceptional talent hard to believe for his age. By the age of 12 he used to show his wizardry with football during first division games.
- He made his debut for Argentinos Junior club on October 20, 1976 and felt as if he had held the sky in his hands. He was two weeks short of sixteenth birthday.
- He scored his first goal on November 14 1976 in a match against San Lorenzo in the Primera Division.
- Maradona played 167 matches for Argentinos Junior from 1976 to 1981 scoring 115 goals during his five years tenure. On December 26, 2003, it named its stadium after him.
- He made international debut for Argentina against Hungary on February 27, 1977, when he was 16 years old.
- On February 20, 1981, he signed a contract with Boca Juniors for a transfer fee of $4 million. He scored his first goal for his new club in 4-1 win against Talleres de Cordoba. The club went on to win the league title that season.
- In 1982 he was transferred to F.C Barcelona, Spain for a record transfer fee of $7.6 million.
- He helped his club to win the Spanish National Cup Competition, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in the year 1983.
- His team mates were amazed at his on-field genius. His mastery of the ball was such that it gave the impression of ball being tied to his boots.
- Maradona in a match against Real Madrid dribbled past the goal keeper Agustin and hoodwinked the defender Juan Jose before slotting in the goal. He was applauded by arch rival fans. He is the one of the three players to have received such an ovation.
- In later half of 1983, he was sidelined for three months due to bout of Hepatitis and with broken ankle from a tackle by Athletic Bilbao’s Andoni Goikoetxea which almost threatened his career.
- In the 1984 Copa del Rey finals against Athletic Bilbo retaliating to rough tackle and insults from Bilbo fans, he head-butted Sola, elbowed another player in the face. He also kneed another player in the head and knocking him cold.
- He moved out of Barcelona after he fell out of favor with the club president Jose PLiuis Nunez. He was transferred to Napoli in Italy. He was transferred for $10.48 million.
- He was welcomed by 75,000 fans when presented on July 5, 1984 as a Napoli Player. His arrival raised a hope of the fans and they believed that the savior had arrived.
- He elevated the club to new height in its era and Napoli won its maiden Serie A Italian Championship in 1986-87. The fan adored Maradona and the celebration carried round the clock for a week.
- He forged a partnership with BrunoGiordano and Careca to take Napoli to its second title in 1989-90. They were called ‘Ma-Gi-Ca’ (Magic) front line.
- He helped Napoli to win Copa Italia in 1987, the UEFA Cup in 1989 and the Italian Supercup in 1990 apart from Serie A championship. Many new born children were named in his honor in Italy.
- He was praised by Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini to be the toughest and the best ever to have played against. He was all time leading goal scorer for Napoli with 115 goals.
- He was fined $70,000 in fine by his club for missing games and practices because of stress. His cocaine use continued and was also linked to Camorra, the criminal organization.
- He served 15 month ban for failing a drug test for cocaine and was released by Napoli in 1992. In his honor and for his achievements his jersey No. 10 was retired by Napoli.
- He played in a friendly match between Tottenham and Hotspur as a testimonial match for Osvaldo Ardiles. He played on request from his friend Ardiles.
- Maradona played in 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan. He was the star of the tournament and scored in the final against Soviet Union to lift the trophy. He was awarded the Golden Ball Award.
- He scored his first senior international goal for Argentina in a 3-1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park on June 02, 1979.
- He and Lionel Messi are the only players to have won the Golden Ball at both FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup. He played in 1979 and 1986 FIFA World Cup.
- He could not make it to the team in 1978 World Cup as he was considered to be young at 17 years by the coach Cesar Luis Menotti.
- He played his first senior World Cup tournament in 1982, Spain. He did not have a impressive tournament. He played all the five matches and scored 2 goals.
- He was tightly marked throughout the 1982 World Cup. He was repeatedly fouled in all the matches. In the last match against Brazil, he was sent off 5 minutes before the close for a retaliatory foul against Joao Batista da Silva.
- In the 1982 World Cup quarter-final match against England, Argentina won 2-1 after a controversial goal was scored by Maradona with his hand. The goal came to be known as the “Hand of God.”
- Interestingly on August 17, 2015 He visited Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee and paid tribute by presenting a signed Argentine Jersey. He was the official when he scored the ‘Hand of God’ goal.
- In the same match Maradona’s second goal was voted as “Goal of the Century” in a 2002 online poll conducted by FIFA. He received the ball in his own half and dribbled passed five English players with 11 touches, covering more than half of the ground to score the goal.
- He captained the Argentine national team in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He led Argentina to championship by beating West Germany in the final 3-2.
- Maradona’s performance in the 1982 World Cup was so dominant, that he single handedly took Argentina to World Cup victory. He scored or assisted 10 of the 14 goals scored and earned 53 free kicks twice more than any other player.
- As a tribute to his skill and brilliance, the authorities at the Azteca Stadium built a statue of him scoring the “Goal of the Century” and placed it at the entrance of the stadium.
- On November 07, 1984, he married his long time fiancée Claudia Villafane in Buenos Aires. He had two daughters, Dalma Nerea and Giannina Dinorah.
- He led Argentina to yet another World Cup final in 1990 only to lose to West Germany 1-0. Argentina was almost eliminated in the group stages.
- Maradona’s participation in the 1994 World Cup in United States was cut short after he failed a drug test for ephedrine doping. This brought an end to his international career.
- Konex Foundation from Argentina granted him Diamond Konex Award in 1990, one of the most prestigious cultural awards in Argentina. He was awarded for his contribution to sports.
- In 2000, he published his autobiography “Yo Soy El Diego” meaning I am The Diego. He donated Cuban royalties of his book to the Cuban people.
- The same year, FIFA conducted internet based poll to select FIFA Player of the Century. He won the award with 53.6% vote.
- On March 22, 2010, he topped the list in the Greatest 10 World Cup players of all time as per The Times.
- In 2003, he was appointed as technical consultant by Al-Saadi, the third son of Muammer Gaddafi . Al-Saadi was playing in the Serie A for Perugia Calcio.
- He made a debut as a host of a talk-Variety show La Noche del 10 in the Argentine Television, meaning the Night of Number 10. He hosted Pele on the opening night.
- An award winning Serbian film maker Emir Kusturica made a documentary in 2008 about Maradona’s life titled “Maradona.”
- On October 29, 2008, he was appointed as the head coach of national team. Argentina won its first match against Scotland under his charge.
