Soccer Fan Club

Diego Armando Maradona (nickname - Golden Boy) is also regarded as one of the greatest soccer player in the history. He was born in a poor family on October 30th 1960 in Villa Fiorito, Buenos Aires.

When he was just 10 years old his talent was recognised by a talent scout While he was playing for neibourhood club. In the halftime of the Argentinos Juniors matches, maradona entertained the audience playing and juggling with the ball. People liked to watch his skills and sometimes the audience used to request to the management of the field not to stop him.

At age 15 his football career started in Argentinos Juniors where he made his debut in the Argentina first division. He then joined Boca Juniors and led the Argentina youth team to win the world cup in 1979. He had also played for other clubs like Barcelona (Spain), Napoli (Italy), Sevilla (Spain) and Newell’s Old Boys (Rosario).

He was basically a left footer. Being one of the legendary masters of the ball, he had the ability to control it any time, even while running at full speed. At times it seemed almost impossible for the defenders to stop his advances without any foul activity. Intelligence and vision were his other obvious talents on the field. With the accuracy of his passes and his uncanny executions bypassing a couple of defenders he seemed a conjuror in his own style.

In the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Maradona asserted his dominance and was widely regarded as the best player of the tournament. He became the hero of Argentina’s triumph. He scored two goals in the quarter-final game against England which cemented his place as a legend. Action replay footage showed that the first goal was scored with the aid of one of his hands. He later claimed it was the “Hand of God” and described it as “A little of the hand of God, and a little of the head of Maradona,” implying that God was ultimately responsible for the goal, because the referee had missed the handball offense.

In the 1994 World Cup in USA, Maradona was tested after the match against Nigeria and was found to have used “ephedrine”, not permitted by the FIFA. He was suspended from playing soccer for more than a year as a punishment. Although Argentina came in as a strong contender in the 1994 World Cup, all their efforts went downhill and, without their captain, they were defeated soon.

on October 30, 1997, day of his 37th birthday, he retired from football with a gallery of good and bad memories. But he is regarded alongside Pele by the neutral football lovers as the greatest player of all times.