Diego Armando Maradona nació el 30 de octubre de 1960 en el Hospital Policlínico Evita de Lanús. Hijo de Diego Maradona (1928-2015), correntino, y de Dalma Salvadora Franco (1930-2011), descendiente de italianos. Fue el quinto de ocho hijos. Tuvo cinco hermanas: María Rosa, Rita, Elsa, Ana María y Claudia; y dos hermanos: Raúl y Hugo (apodados Lalo y Turco), también futbolistas.
Fue padre de cinco hijos. En 2009 se convirtió en abuelo por primera vez. Murió el 25 de noviembre de 2020, pocos días después de cumplir 60 años.
Maradona comenzó a jugar al fútbol en el equipo amateur de su padre, el Estrella Roja. El otro equipo del barrio era el Tres Banderas, de su mejor amigo, Goyo Carrizo. Fue precisamente él quien lo llevó a probarse a las inferiores de Argentinos Juniors, en Buenos Aires. Así, ingresó a Los Cebollitas, la división infantil del club, a la edad de 9 años. Su primer entrenador fue Francisco Cornejo, quien en un principio no podía creer su habilidad a tan corta edad. Llegando, incluso, a pedirle el documento de identidad para corroborar su fecha de nacimiento. Con él y Carrizo en el equipo, Los Cebollitas lograron una racha de 136 victorias consecutivas.
Maradona comenzó su carrera profesional con Argentinos Juniors el 20 de octubre de 1976, debutando con la camiseta número 16 en un partido contra Talleres de Córdoba, diez días antes de cumplir dieciséis años. Convirtiéndose, en aquella época, en el jugador más joven en debutar en la Primera División argentina. Poco antes de debutar, el entonces técnico de Argentinos Juniors, Juan Carlos Montes, le dijo a Maradona: "Vaya Diego, juegue como Usted sabe. Y si puede, tire un caño". En respuesta, Diego le hizo un caño al primer jugador que se le cruzó, Juan Domingo Cabrera. Argentinos perdió aquél partido 0-1. Sin embargo, Maradona se convirtió al poco tiempo en titular indiscutido. Sus primeros goles en Argentinos Jrs. llegaron el 14 de noviembre de ese año, con un doblete a San Lorenzo de Mar del Plata.
Con 18 años, Diego Maradona era el abanderado de la nueva generación del fútbol argentino. Su habilidad y personalidad le permitieron destacarse entre jugadores ya consagrados. Tanto fue así, que estuvo a punto de disputar el Mundial de Argentina 1978. Pero luego de quedar fuera de la lista de convocados, tuvo su revancha en el Mundial Juvenil de Japón 1979. Allí, la selección argentina capitaneada por Maradona, ganó la copa del mundo, y Diego se consagró como el Mejor Jugador del mundial, recibiendo el Balón de Oro de la FIFA.
Ya en 1978, Maradona se había convertido en el máximo goleador de la liga argentina con 22 goles. Y en 1979 y 1980 fue el goleador de los campeonatos Metropolitano y Nacional, ganando consecutivamente el Botín de Oro 1978, 1979 y 1980, y el Balón de Oro al Mejor Jugador de América en 1979 y 1980. Con Argentinos Jrs. consiguió un subcampeonato, y superó con sólo 19 años la marca de los 100 goles en el fútbol argentino.
En 1981 fue cedido a préstamo a Boca Juniors, uno de los equipos más populares de Argentina. Y allí consiguió por primera vez un campeonato local, el Metropolitano de aquél año, capitaneando el equipo y marcando goles inolvidables.
Si bien su pase al Barcelona se había frustrado en varias ocasiones, ya a que el gobierno argentino y la AFA impedían la venta de jugadores argentinos antes del Mundial de España, el tiempo de Maradona en Argentina llegaba a su fin.
On June 5, 1982, days before the start of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Maradona finally became a Barcelona player.Many speak of failure and disappointment, but it should be noted that Maradona was unable to complete any of the two seasons he played in Spain, due to health problems and injuries caused by criminal marking.
In his first season at the club, he suffered from viral hepatitis that took him away from football for more than three months. Barça achieved fourth place in the Liga Española, instead, it won the Copa del Rey, defeating Real Madrid on June 4, 1983, and then the Copa de la Liga, also against Real Madrid, with goals from Maradona in both first and second leg matches.
The following season 1983-84, with César Luis Menotti as coach, started a little better. In August they won the Copa Gamper. In September, in the first match of the European Winners’ Cup against Germany’s Magdeburg, Maradona scored a hat-trick, and the match ended 5-1. But on the fourth date of the championship, in the match against Athletic Bilbao, with the match 4-0 in favor of Barcelona, Maradona was seriously injured by defender Andoni Goikoechea, suffering a fracture in his left ankle. During his recovery, at the end of 1983, Barcelona also won the Super Copa Española, in the double final against Athletic Bilbao.
In early 1984, after his return to football, Maradona led Barcelona to six consecutive victories. In March, the European Winners’ Cup resumed. Barcelona won the first leg against Manchester United 2-0. But the 0-3 against the English, in the rematch, eliminated them from the competition.
Barcelona finished that Liga in third place, just one point behind the champion. Maradona played 23 of the 53 official matches, in which he scored 11 goals. In May he played in the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao. But after the 0-1 loss, Maradona responded to the attacks of the Basque players, and a fight broke out between the two teams. This marked the end of Diego in the Catalonian club
After a very complex negotiation, Maradona was hired by the Napoli club in Italy.
On July 5, 1984, Maradona entered a packed San Paolo for his presentation as a Napoli player. That evening he was received by eighty thousand “tifosi”. In the first season 1984-85, Napoli finished in eighth place, avoiding the feared relegation. The team had started at the bottom of the table.
In the 1985-86 season, Napoli obtained third place, leaving the victory against Juventus in the memory of everyone, after thirty-two years, with a goal by Maradona from a free kick.
En México, al mando de Carlos Salvador Bilardo, la selección argentina capitaneada por Diego Maradona, obtuvo la Copa del Mundo, venciendo a Alemania por 3-2.
Quedaron para la historia dos de sus cinco goles en aquél campeonato, convertidos nada más y nada menos que a Inglaterra, tan sólo cuatro años después de la guerra de las Islas Malvinas. Uno de ellos fue con la mano, y se lo recuerda como La Mano de Dios. Y el otro, es considerado por los amantes del fútbol como el Mejor Gol de la Historia de los Mundiales.
La actuación de Maradona en aquella copa del mundo fue extraordinaria, opacando a grandes figuras internacionales y convirtiéndose en el artífice del triunfo argentino. Diego obtuvo el Balón de Oro de la FIFA, y es para muchos en el Mejor Jugador de la Historia del Fútbol.
In the 1986-87 season, under the direction of coach Ottavio Bianchi, Napoli won its first Scudetto. On May 10, 1987, the Neapolitan club drew 1-1 with Fiorentina at the San Paolo stadium, winning the first championship in its history. In addition, Napoli won its third Copa Italia. That double victory (Scudetto and Copa Italia) was a feat that only clubs Torino and Juventus had achieved until then.
In the 1987-88 season, Napoli participated in the Champions Cup for the first time, but was eliminated after a double confrontation with Real Madrid. In the Serie A, Napoli was in first place, and held a five-point lead until match day 20, when they were overtaken by Milan, and lost the championship. Maradona was the top scorer in that tournament with 15 goals.
In the 1988-89 season, Napoli finished the League in second place. But the team entered history after achieving its first international trophy, winning the UEFA Cup against Stuttgart in Germany. In addition, in that season he reached the final of the Copa Italia.
In the 1989-90 season, after a difficult start, Maradona’s Napoli won a second Scudetto, after a close points difference with Milan until the last match.
After the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where the Argentine team reached the finals again, after beating Brazil and Italy, and losing the finals against Germany due to a controversial penalty, Maradona’s Italian experience would come to an end.
Despite lifting the Italian Super Cup, after comfortably beating Juventus, in the 1990-91 season, more precisely on March 17, 1991, Diego was suspended for 15 months after a positive anti-doping test in the match against Bari (1-0). Maradona left Italy, and Napoli closed that season in seventh place.
After a year and a half of disqualification, in 1992 Maradona’s career continued in Spain.
In Sevilla he met again with the coach Carlos Bilardo. There he played his first official match of La Liga against Athletic Bilbao. He also returned to play in the Argentine national team. With it he won the Artemio Franchi Cup in 1993, beating the European champion, Denmark.
But Sevilla did not achieve their goal: to qualify for the UEFA Cup. In 25 games Maradona scored 5 goals and was the author of 12 assists. After one season, his Sevillian experience came to an end.
That year he returned to play in his home country, with Newell’s Old Boys. Later, on October 31, 1993, he returned to play for the national team. It was in Sydney, against Australia, in the first leg of the qualifying play-off for the USA 1994 World Cup. The match ended 1-1 and the goal by Argentine Abel Balbo was thanks to a cross from Maradona. In the second leg, on November 17, in Buenos Aires, Argentina won 1-0, thus qualifying for the World Cup in the United States.
After 5 games, after facing Huracán, on February 12, 1994, Maradona terminated his contract with Newell’s. And he withdrew from competitions for a few months, waiting for the World Cup in USA ’94. He returned to play for the national team on April 20, 1994.
In the World Cup he played only two games, scoring one goal against Greece. But a positive doping test for ephedrine disabled him for another 15 months. During that time, Maradona tried to work as a coach in two short periods, leading Deportivo Mandiyú de Corrientes (from October 3 to December 30, 1994), and Racing Club (from January 6 to March 26, 1995), though unsuccessfully. In the first case, the resignation was due to a dispute with the club’s leadership. In the second case, Maradona left the technical direction when the then president of Racing lost the elections.
In 1995 he was awarded by France Football magazine with the Ballon d’Or for his career. In those days, only European players received this award.
On October 7 of the same year, he played again with the Boca Juniors shirt, in the match against Colón de Santa Fe (1-0). He remained in Boca Juniors for two years, before retiring from professional soccer in the superclasico against River Plate, played on October 25, 1997.
Luego de algunas breves experiencias a mediados de los noventa, el 28 de octubre de 2008 Maradona fue nombrado entrenador de la selección argentina, en reemplazo de Alfio Basile. Bajo su dirección, la Albiceleste se clasificó para el Mundial de Sudáfrica en la última ronda, venciendo a Uruguay 1-0 como visitante. En Sudáfrica, tras un comienzo contundente y alentador, gracias a cuatro victorias consecutivas, Argentina perdió 0-4 contra Alemania en cuartos de final, y su contrato como técnico no fue renovado. Maradona dirigió 25 partidos, ganó 18 y perdió 7, sin empates, con una efectividad del 72%. Números por encima de otros técnicos.
On May 14, 2011, after 10 months of inactivity, Maradona was hired by Al-Wasl in Dubai, signing a two-year contract.
He played a total of 44 games, with 20 wins and 6 draws.
In July 2012, after losing the GCC Champions League final on penalties, he stepped down.
On May 7, 2017, he was appointed coach of Al-Fujairah, from the second division. The Arab team, made up of amateur players, achieved very good results throughout the championship, arriving with chances of being promoted to the First Division directly. But, after achieving an incredible draw in the decisive match, and still having the possibility of being promoted by playing a playoff, on April 27, 2018, he resigned from his position. His team was the only one that did not lose games that season.
On September 7, 2018, Maradona was presented as the new coach of Dorados de Sinaloa, a team in the second division of Mexican soccer.
Despite his detractors, he carried out two high-level campaigns, contesting the final in both seasons. His good work was little recognized. Finally, Maradona had to resign on June 14, 2019 for health reasons, since he had to undergo a knee operation in Argentina.
On September 5, 2019 he was appointed coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. He led the team in the Argentine Super League (2019-20), won by Boca Juniors. He also managed Gimnasia in the Argentine Superliga (2020-21), but it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout those two seasons, Diego received innumerable and unforgettable tributes from Argentine soccer clubs and fans.
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