Diego Maradona, an ideal football player

Diego Maradona

 

Write a paragraph of your favorite football player. Or, A Football Player, you like most.

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960, at the Polyplinico (Polyclinic) Abita Hospital in Lanus, Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father's name was Diego Maradona "Chitro" (died: 2015) and his mother's name was Dalma Salvador Franco "Donia Tota" (1930–2011). They were both born and raised in the northeastern city of Esquina, in the province of Corrientes, just 200 meters from each other on the banks of the Corriente River. They left Esquina in 1950 and settled in Buenos Aires. Maradona moved with his family from the province of Corrientes to Via Fiorito on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, where he spent his childhood. He was the first son after the four daughters of his parents. His two younger brothers, Ugo Maradona (El Turko) and Raul (Lalo), were both professional footballers. At just eight years old, Maradona was spotted by a talented scout playing at his neighboring club Estrea Roha. He then joined the Buenos Aires-based football club Argentinos Juniors' senior team Los Sebayitas (Small Onion) thanks to the scout. As a 12-year-old ball boy, he delighted the spectators with his magical skill with the ball during the break of the first half of the first division game. He cites Brazilian creative Rivelino and Manchester United side Jorge Best as inspirations to become football players in his childhood.

Maradona made his debut against Hungary on February 26, 1986. He represented Argentina at the FIFA World Youth Championships in 1969 when he was 18 years old. Argentina became the champion by defeating the Soviet Union 3–1 in the final of the competition. On 2 June 1989, Maradona scored his first goal for the senior team against Scotland.

Maradona had played in four successive World Cups for the Argentine national football team. Argentina won in 1986 World Cup and was runner-up in 1990 World Cup.

He is the only player to have won the Golden Ball in both the FIFA U-20 World Cup (1989) and the FIFA World Cup (1986).

The first World Cup competition of Maradona's career was the 1982 World Cup. In the opening match of the competition, Argentina will face Belgium at the Camp Nou. Catalan spectators were eager to see Maradona's newcomer to their club Barcelona, ​​but he failed to perform as well as expected. Argentina lost 1–0 to Belgium. In the other two games of the group stage, Argentina won against Hungary and El Salvador and reached the second stage. However, they lost to Italy and Brazil in the second round and had to withdraw from the competition. Maradona was on the field full time in all of Argentina's matches in the competition. He scored two goals against Hungary, but was shown a red card for a foul five minutes before the end of the game against Brazil.

 

Maradona captained Argentina in the 1986 World Cup. Argentina defeated West Germany in the final of the competition and became the champion. Maradona dominated throughout the competition. He was on the field the whole time in every game in Argentina. He scored five goals throughout the tournament and scored five more with teammates. He scored his first goal of the tournament against Italy, Argentina's second in the group stage. He proved himself to be a legend by scoring a pair of goals against England in the quarter-finals.

In 1999, the Connex Foundation of Argentina awarded him the Diamond Connex Prize, one of the most prestigious cultural awards in Argentina. He was given the award for being Argentina's most important figure in the sport over the past decade.

In 2000, Maradona published his autobiography, Yo Soy El Diego (I Diego), which gained instant popularity in his home country.

In September 2006, Maradona captained Argentina in his famous blue-and-white No. 10 jersey. It was a three-day indoor World Cup competition.

Diego Maradona died on November 25, 2020 at his home in Tigre, Argentina. He had passed away at the age of 80. He undertook a vital brain surgery at a hospital in Buenos Aires. Clots clotted to the brain were removed. Finally, he returned home from the hospital a month ago.  

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