Diego Maradona died at the age of 60. His eventful life between the splendor of old triumphs and his drug problems.
Great mourning for Diego Maradona (1960-2020). The Argentine soccer legend died of a heart attack at the age of 60. A spokesman confirmed this. At the beginning of November, Maradona had to undergo brain surgery. The Argentine is considered one of the best football players of all time. His later years, however, were marked by health problems.
"What happened to him?" Sports author Alex Steudel was horrified when he saw the soccer idol of his youth in the documentary "Diego Maradona" by British director and Oscar winner Asif Kapadia (48, "Amy,"). Steudel described one in his column for "sport1" in May 2020 old Maradona, who is "almost unrecognizable" and "can no longer walk properly because of a kind of total body arthrosis. He limps heartbreakingly. (…) Tears run down his bloated face, and you yourself have a lump in your throat and just want to hold it in your arms and say: Come on, we'll do the whole thing all over again, but this time I'll help you, and Everything will be fine".
Then this pitiful person says of himself as a player: "I was sick, a drug addict. I always ask myself: If I hadn't taken drugs, how well would I have played?" Looking back on his triumphs must have tormented Maradona many times. Because his past was the time of infinite joys.
From child prodigy to world star
He was one of the greatest in football history, and enthusiasts saw him as the "eighth wonder of the world". "Playing with Maradona is beyond description. You have to be there. He was a genius," enthused the Brazilian Alemao (59). The Argentine coaching legend César Luis Menotti (82) reached deep into the poetic magic box on the subject of Maradona: "The ball and he were born together." Even sober sports watchers saw Maradona as a child prodigy. Probably this term best describes it. A child prodigy, mostly radiant, always naive, but also stubborn, defiant and irascible when things didn't go so brilliantly.
Diego Armando Maradona grew up as the fifth of eight children of a factory worker in Villa Fiorito, a slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. At nine he joined the children's team of the first division club Argentinos Juniors, at 15 he played in the first team, at 20 he was considered the best playmaker in South America. In 1981 he moved to the better-known local rival Boca Juniors and became Argentine champion. At 21 he was a world star, and even more: he ascended the throne of the best footballer in the world, which was orphaned after the end of the career of the Brazilian Pelé (80).
His way to Europe
Then Maradona went to Europe for FC Barcelona. He played two years in Spain, a time of light and shadow. Brilliant appearances on the field were followed by scandals: Sometimes he instigated a mass brawl on the pitch, sometimes he sank into the nightlife. Today we know: Maradona's cocaine career began in Barcelona. Nevertheless, his soccer zenith followed between 1985 and 1990. Maradona won two Italian championships with his new club, SSC Napoli, and in 1986 with the Argentine national team (in the final against Germany), the World Cup in Mexico was his biggest stage. In the quarter-finals against England, he illegally pushed the ball into the English goal with his hand. "It was the hand of God," he says afterwards.
Back then, fans in Naples adored him with religious fervor. Many Tifosi had hung a photo of the Argentine at home next to the crucifix, and a stranger had painted a little Maradona on the lap of a Madonna. But Naples was also the metropolis of the Mafia organization Camorra. The captured the star, supplied him with cocaine and prostitutes, a way of life that the Argentine has not let go for a long time. After the weekend games, he celebrated excess cocaine up to and including Wednesday, and did not return to team training until Thursday. The club allegedly manipulated doping controls by submitting falsified urine samples. Eventually Maradona was sentenced to 14 months in prison for possession and distribution of drugs, on probation.
In Italy he becomes a persona non grata
The Vatican newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano" described him as a "disgusting person" who "offends those who have little or nothing". His coach from SSC Napoli said: "I agree wholeheartedly." Even the Camorra, who allegedly had their hands in the game in the twelve million record transfer from Barcelona to Naples, didn't want to hear from him. Maradona became a persona non grata in Italy. The rest of his career has plummeted into the abyss. The following engagements at Sevilla FC (1992-1993) and the Argentine clubs Newell's Old Boys (1993-1994) and Boca Juniors (1995-1997) were dominated by drug offenses, doping bans and suspended sentences. He was never able to build on old successes.
His subsequent coaching career was not crowned with success either. He coached the Argentine national team (2008-2010) at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa up to the quarter-finals. There she met Germany and lost 4-0. Maradona then hired himself in the United Arab Emirates, later signed with the Belarusian club Dynamo Brest, but then went to Mexico to the desolate second division club Dorados de Sinaloa in Culiacan. He led the team from last place into the playoffs, then disappeared, came back and finally resigned "for health reasons". In parting he called out to the people: "Thank you for bringing me back to life." His last position was the Argentine first division team Gmynasia y Esgrima La Plata, his contract with the relegation candidate ran until 2021.
"Diego is out of control"
In his private life, Maradona indulged in self-destruction. Drugs, alcohol, medication. His former manager Guillermo Coppola (72) says that Diego is "out of control", that he "doesn't listen to anyone" and that he is a "driven personality" with no sense of proportion. Again and again he had to undergo clinical treatment. He suffered a severe heart attack and liver damage. Again and again he underwent withdrawal treatment – only to admit: "I was, am and will always be addicted to drugs." Outwardly, too, he looked less and less like the soccer hero. Maradona was up to 75 kilos overweight and had her stomach shrunk to shed 50 kilos. "FAZ" author Paul Ingendaay wrote: "Diego Maradona (…) was unlucky enough to have to stay alive and is still running around as a caricature of himself today."
His women’s stories also belong to this picture of misery. He has at least eight children with six different wives (including a wife). It was not until 2019 that he recognized the paternity of three children in Cuba. He stayed there between 2000 and 2005 for drug withdrawal. He recently announced that he did not want to bequeath anything to his children, but rather donate his fortune. Of his millions in fees, which he earned as the best-paid kicker of his time, not even 150,000 euros should be left over.
The worship lasted until the end
Until his death, Maradona was worshiped in his homeland. The Iglesia Maradoniana parish was founded in Rosario, but it doesn't take itself seriously. Rather, she parodies her love for her god "D10S", a mix of the Spanish word Dios (god) and his number 10.
For coach-philosopher César Luis Menotti, the real Maradona is not the pitiful one: "Diego doesn't exist in any other world than on a football field. This is his life, his dream." His fans also saw it this way: Most recently, they gathered in front of the hospital near Buenos Aires, where the football star had surgery on the brain, and cheered at the news about the success of the operation. After eight days, Maradona was able to leave the clinic and should recover from the operation in private. Argentina declared three days of national mourning after his death.