Diego Maradona – An Obituary
When the news came in yesterday that Diego Maradona had passed away, I was in two minds over whether or not to write an obituary on here. The blatant cheating for the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal and failing a drug test eight years later made me think it would be wise not to put an obituary on here.
Today, on the first of three days of mourning in Argentina, I have changed my mind.
Diego Maradona was a footballing genius. He may have had many flaws but so do many people. Paul Gascoigne would be a prime example in English football and many players have battled with alcoholism both during and after their playing careers. It would be ridiculous to overlook Maradona’s talent for his misdoings.
I will only write a bit about him on here as I have written a much more comprehensive article about him in the ‘Far Post Header Hall of Fame’. This can be found here.
Maradona made his first-team debut for Argentinos Juniors when he was just 15 years old. Over the course of his career, he also played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Sevilla, and Newell’s Old Boys.
The attacking midfielder made 91 appearances for Argentina’s national team between 1977 and 1994 and scored 34 goals. Two of those goals shocked the world in the Quarter Final of the 1986 World Cup against England and made him into a world superstar.
He was needlessly kicked many times by opponents in his first World Cup in 1982, meaning that he was unable to showcase his true talents to the world. Four years later, Maradona made the World Cup his own and lead Argentina to victory.
Argentina reached the World Cup Final in 1990 but lost to West Germany in a repeat of the final four years earlier in Mexico.
USA ’94 was Maradona’s fourth and final World Cup. He would play in two games and scored a great goal against Greece in the first match. In the second, he was chosen to participate in a drug test and failed it. He was sent home in shame and never played for his country again.
After his playing days were over, Maradona tried his had at management but never really did well as a coach. He managed Argentina in the 2010 World Cup where they reached the Quarter Final before being hammered 4-0 by Germany.
Since his death was announced yesterday afternoon, the footballing world has paid homage to one of the greatest players in the sport’s history. Whether you liked him or not, it is impossible to deny that the man was truly blessed with skill, talent, and flair. Yes, he had his demons and punched in a goal to help win a Quarter Final in the World Cup, but Diego Maradona was also a bloody good footballer.
I’m going to end this obituary with a video of the Argentine having a kickabout in the warm-up before a European tie in West Germany during his time at Napoli. We are very lucky that the cameraman who filmed this managed to catch such a mesmerising display of skill. The best players make the hard stuff look easy and Diego Maradona does just this in the video.
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