In the hands of God
Argentina mourns Maradona
Diego Maradona, the Argentine football great who scored the “Hand of God” goal in 1986 and led his country to that year’s World Cup title before later struggling with cocaine use and obesity, has died. He was 60.
Maradona’s spokesman, Sebastia´n Sanchi, said he died yesterday of a heart attack, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery. The office of Argentina’s president said it will decree three days of national mourning.
One of the most famous moments in the history of the sport, the “Hand of God” goal came when the diminutive Maradona punched the ball into England’s net during the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals. England said the ball went in off of Maradona’s hand, not his head. Maradona himself gave conflicting accounts of what had happened over the years, at one point attributing the goal to divine intervention, to “the hand of God”.
Maradona also captivated fans around the world over a two-decade career with a bewitching style of play that was all his own.
Although his reputation was tarnished by his addictions and an illfated spell in charge of the national team, he remained idolised in football-mad Argentina as the “Pibe de Oro” or “Golden Boy”.
“You took us to the top of the world,” Argentine President Alfredo Ferna´ndez said on social media. “You made us incredibly happy. You were the greatest of all.”
Bold, fast and unpredictable, Maradona was a master of attack, juggling the ball easily from one foot to the other as he raced upfield. Dodging and weaving with his low centre of gravity, he shrugged off countless rivals and often scored with a devastating left foot, his most powerful weapon.
Maradona played from 1976-81 for first division club Argentinos Juniors, then went to Boca Juniors for a year before heading to Barcelona for a world-record $8 million. In 1984, Barcelona sold him to Napoli, in Italy. He remade its fortunes almost singlehandedly, taking Napoli to the 1987 Italian league championship for its first title in 60 years. A year after losing the 1990 World Cup final to West Germany, Maradona moved to Spanish club Sevilla, but his career was on the decline. He played five matches at Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys in 1994 before returning to Boca from 1995-97 — his final club and closest to his heart. Drug problems overshadowed his final playing years. Maradona failed a doping test in 1991 and was banned for 15 months, acknowledging his longtime cocaine addiction. He failed another doping test for stimulants and was thrown out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Hospitalised near death in 2000 and again in 2004 for heart problems blamed on cocaine, he later said he overcame the drug problem.
Cocaine, he once said famously, had proven to be his “toughest rival”.
Despite a 2005 gastric bypass that greatly trimmed his weight. Maradona was hospitalised in early 2007 for acute hepatitis that his doctor blamed on excessive drinking and eating.
He made an unlikely return to the national team in 2008 when he was appointed Argentina coach, but after a quarter-final exit at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was ousted — ultimately picking up another coaching job with the United Arab Emirates club Al Wasl.
His crowning achievement came at the 1986 World Cup, captaining Argentina in its 3-2 win over West Germany in the final and decisive in a 2-1 victory against England in a feisty quarter-final match.
Over the protests of England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the referee let stand a goal by Maradona in which he intentionally hit the ball with his hand in “a bit of mischief”. But Maradona’s impact wouldn’t be confined to cheating. Four minutes later, he spectacularly weaved past four opponents from midfield to beat Shilton for what FIFA later declared the greatest goal in World Cup history.
You took us to the top of the world. You made us incredibly happy. You were the greatest of all.
Argentine President Alfredo Ferna´ndez