Maradona

Buenos Aires: It is a measure of Diego Maradona’s genius that the scandals which dogged his career will not stop him from being remembered as one of the two greatest footballers to grace the sport. Like Pele, Maradona etched his name among the legends of the game on the most demanding stage of all, the World Cup.

The 1986 finals in Mexico, where he almost single-handedly guided Argentina to glory, represented the high point of a career steeped in both brilliance and controversy.

Maradona’s five goals in Mexico included two against England in a quarter final grudge match, which in many ways has come to define him, showing why he could be both reviled and revered in the space of 90 minutes.

The first of those goals was the fisted ‘Hand of God’ effort past a stranded Peter Shilton; the second a wondrous individual strike which saw Maradona run half the length of the field and skip past several English defenders to score.

With England out of the way, Maradona netted another magical goal in the semi-finals against Belgium, once again his stocky build and low centre of gravity giving him a fantastic ability to change direction abruptly and leave his markers trailing.

Even in the final, when he was well shackled by the German midfield, he was able to find room for a sublime killer pass in the last minute for the goal that gave Argentina a 3-2 victory.

But if Mexico was the highpoint of Maradona’s career, the same cannot be said for his three other appearances at the World Cup, all of which ended in ignominy for the ‘boy from the Barrios’.

Born on October 30, 1960, just outside Buenos Aires, Maradona began his career playing for Los Cebollitos (The Little Onions), before he moved on to Argentinos Juniors.

His talent soon came to the attention of Argentina’s selectors, and he became his country’s youngest-ever international when he was picked for a friendly against Hungary at 16.

He captained Argentina to victory in the 1978 Youth World Cup and was voted South American Player of the Year in 1979 and 1980, Maradona was signed by Spain’s Barcelona in 1982 for a then world record transfer fee.

Following his heroics in Mexico, Maradona again played a captain’s role as Argentina reached the final of the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

This time, however, Maradona left in shame, tearfully refusing to shake hands with Fifa’s president after Argentina lost a foul-tempered final 0-1 to Germany.

It was the beginning of the end. In 1991, the Italian football federation suspended him for 15 months for testing positive for cocaine and Maradona retreated into obscurity.

He re-emerged in Argentine colours having slimmed down and looking fit in time for the 1994 World Cup finals in the US. But his fitness appeared to have been artificially engineered ? he was kicked out of the finals after failing a dope test for ephedrine, quitting international football thereafter.

Since his retirement in 1997 ? he finished his career with an unsuccessful two-year spell at Boca Juniors ? Maradona has been dogged by a series of health scares.

In April 2004 he suffered a heart attack following a cocaine overdose and spent weeks in intensive care. He survived that episode but his weight subsequently ballooned to alarming levels, prompting him to undergo gastric bypass surgery in 2005.

(AFP)