Diego Maradona (1960 – 2020): Highs And Lows

By Chuks Ekpeneru

One of the Greatest Of All Times (GOATS) of football, Diego Maradona who has died at 60 has left the world in undeniable grief.

He died on Wednesday of cardiac arrest.

He is famously remembered for “Hand of God” goal that eliminated England from the 1986 World Cup. He helped Argentina win the World Cup that year.

Affectionately known as ‘Diego’, he played football for Boca Juniors, Napoli and Barcelona among others.

He was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.

The former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager suffered a heart attack at his Buenos Aires home.

He had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency.

In a statement on social media, the Argentine Football Association expressed “its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend”, adding: “You will always be in our hearts.”

Maradona played for Barcelona and Napoli during his club career, winning two Serie A titles with the Italian side.

He scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina, representing them in four World Cups.

Maradona led his country to the 1990 final in Italy, where they were beaten by West Germany, before captaining them again in the United States in 1994 but was sent home after failing a drugs test for ephedrine.

During the second half of his career, Maradona struggled with cocaine addiction and was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991.

He retired from professional football in 1997 on his 37th birthday after a second stint at Argentine giants Boca Juniors.

Having briefly managed two sides in Argentina, Maradona was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 and left after the 2010 World Cup, where his side were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals.

He subsequently managed teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico and was in charge of Gimnasia y Esgrima in Argentina’s top flight at the time of his death.

He is left behind by Diego Sinagra, Giannina Maradona, Dalma Maradona, Jana Maradona.

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