Brilliant but troubled footballer ruined his rare gifts with a life of self-indulgence
Diego Maradona’s life was not so much in the tradition of a once-great footballer who goes to seed; rather, it resembled that of a fallen movie idol, or rock star. Like Elvis, his rare gifts were ruined by self-indulgence.
Whereas drink is the customary Achilles’ heel in football, Maradona’s downfall was caused by a combined addiction to drugs, drink, eating and sex. Most notably, his chronic cocaine problem accentuated his erratic, violent and often bizarre behaviour.
He was an easily-led, self-obsessed and melodramatic figure. Yet towering above all his self-destructive antics lay a footballing legend. As a
dribbler on the field, he was the
finest.
His greatd
est triumph came in the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico where he was at his imperious best. Short, muscular and lightning quick, Maradona slalomed through opposition defences, hurdling challenges and brushing off crude attempts to stop him. He was instrumental in Argentina’s victory in the competition, scoring all four of the team’s goals – two of them breathtaking – against England and Belgium on the way to their 3-2 defeat of West Germany in the final.
Mexico ’86 was Maradona’s apotheosis, and he was England’s nemesis. Five minutes into the second half of their quarterfinal, with the game at 0-0, there was a scramble by the England goalmouth. Steve Hodge hooked the ball over his head to pass it to goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Maradona rose to intercept, clenching his raised fist close to his head, and punched the ball over Shilton, flicking his head as he did so to hide his actions.
Despite protests of the England players, both linesman and referee failed to spot the infringement. Yet even the most resentful England fans had to admire Maradona’s second goal in that game. He picked up the ball in his own half, wrong-stepping England players left and right. He then moved the ball from right foot to left before putting it past Shilton. ‘‘You have to say that’s magnificent,’’ conceded the BBC’s commentator.
He scored an almost equally brilliant solo effort against Belgium in the following game, yet his handled goal against England became an enduring image. After the game he explained it was the ‘‘hand of God’’. That such a supreme talent could be so undisciplined, that he felt he needed to cheat, was perhaps a pointer to the unhappy times ahead.
Diego Armando Maradona was born in 1960 and raised in the back streets of Villa Fiorito, part of greater Buenos Aires, the fifth of eight children of a family of Italian and indigenous descent. His father, also called Diego but known as Chitoro, was a factory worker while his mother, Dalma, worked as a domestic. With little money to pay for entertainments, he spent most of his childhood playing football in the streets (inspired, he recalled, by George Best) and when not doing this, practising by himself with a tennis ball.
The club Argentinos Juniors spotted and signed him at the age of 12, and he made his debut in the Argentine league three years later. By 16 he had represented his country. In 1981 Boca Juniors signed him for £1 million – then a record for a teenager – and a year later Barcelona bought him for another world record of £5m.
His talents failed to materialise at Barcelona. Most notoriously, he disgraced himself in full view of King Juan Carlos and 100,000 spectators in 1984 after Bilbao beat Barcelona 1-0. Maradona butted and laid out the Bilbao defender Jose Nunez, then hammered Miguel Sola to the ground after he taunted the Argentinian with a crude gesture. A full scrum ensued, and Maradona was given a three-month ban.
In 1984 he was signed by Italian club Napoli, again for a world record sum. Here he flourished, enjoying his greatest success at club level. He led Napoli to a cup victory in 1987, their first league title the same year, and a Uefa cup triumph over Stuttgart in 1989.
The 1990 World Cup in Italy was a disappointment to Argentina and Maradona. He was clearly past his peak of four years earlier but still served up flashes of brilliance that enabled Argentina to make the final, where they lost 1-0 to West Germany in a dismal fashion.
The finals in the United States in 1994 proved his last undoing. He was ejected from the tournament after Argentina’s 2-1 victory against Nigeria, having been found taking two banned substances, including ephedrine.
He had been taking cortisone for some time to combat a back injury; he also had three pins in his ankle. For 15 years, unscrupulous managers made sure that he received painkilling injections before every game.
In some ways Maradona was here the victim. Nevertheless, his involvement with drugs of the recreational rather than the performance-enhancing kind was well known by 1994. Many were surprised he was playing in America at all. His club-level career was effectively finished in 1991 when Napoli expelled him after he was named in a drug smuggling ring involving the Neapolitan mafia. After a transfer to Seville he was sacked again after brawling in a cup final, and returned to Argentina, where he was arrested for cocaine possession.
His cocaine habit was by now having an evident effect on his behaviour. Reporters crowding outside his gates to ask him about his ban were met with the sound of shots, as Maradona set upon them with an air pistol. In truth, he did not need stimulants to be capable of such actions. In 1981 a 16-year-old autograph hunter who asked Maradona how much money he expected to make from a forthcoming Mini World Cup was punched in the face. The enraged Maradona had to be restrained by a small crowd.
During his five greatest years, those spent at Napoli, he earned US$30m. He was generous to his family, perhaps over-generous with those long-lost relations who always rediscover wealthy relatives. Much of his money went also on his love of sports cars – and cocaine. In 1996 he finally confessed to an Argentine magazine: ‘‘I was, I am and I always will be a drug addict.’’
He married Claudia Villafane in 1989; they divorced in 2004. He is survived by their two daughters, and by a son, Diego Armando Jr, who was ruled to be his by an Italian court in 1995. In 2013 he had another son, Diego Fernando, with Veronica Ojeda. In 2017 he took his daughters to court, claiming they had stolen money from him.
Maradona’s final years were dogged by ill health. A few weeks ago he was rushed to hospital again with a blood clot on the brain. By then the world seemed to have forgiven him his faults and come to see him as he saw himself.
‘‘My mother thinks I am the best,’’ he once said. ‘‘And I was raised to always believe what my mother tells me.’’ – The Times
‘‘My mother thinks I am the best. And I was raised to always believe what my mother tells me.’’