Legendary footballer Diego Maradona passed away on Wednesday after prolonged illness at the age of 60. He was considered as one of the world’s best footballers wearing a number ten jersey like Pele. Maradona, one of the greatest football players, has always been in the limelight due to fame, money and notoriety. Maradona was once the most expensive player in the world, although his life was spent in extreme poverty.
Argentina has declared a three-day national mourning following the death of Diego Maradona. His body has been brought to the President’s office, Casa Rosada. Here people will be able to pay tribute to the star player.
Maradona’s teammate Osvaldo Ardiles has said that today’s football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also do not earned as much fame and praise as Maradona did.
His early life
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Maradona was born in 1960 in a slum of Lanus, a slum town in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. Maradona was the fifth child of eight children of his father. His childhood went into extreme poverty. His father used to sell cattle in nearby villages. Later, he worked in a chemical factory. Maradona had become a superstar only at the age of 15.
His Career
Playing with Argentina, Maradona played 91 matches in an international career, scoring 34 goals. He played 4 FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 World Cup. He was also the captain of Argentina in the 1986 World Cup. He was declared the best player of the tournament. He also won the ‘Golden Ball Award’.
Maradona has also been awarded the FIFA Player of the Century. He has won the World Cup Golden Ball once, Ballon d’Or, 2 times South American Footballer of the Year, 6 times National League Top Scorer Award.
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In 1982, the famous Spanish club Barcelona had signed the Argentina’s star player for 3 million pounds (about 30 million rupees). This agreement created a stir in the football world at that time. No one believed at that time that a player could get such a sum. Maradona, who scored two goals in the 1982 World Cup, completely dominated the football world between 1980 and 1990. This can also be gauged from the fact that in 1984, when Italian club Napoli signed with Maradona, they gave him £5 million (about Rs 50 crore).
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Maradona scored a total of 259 goals in 491 matches. Maradona, who made Argentina the World Cup winner in 1986 and reached the final in 1990, scored 34 goals in 91 international matches. Not only this, in a survey, he left Pelé behind and claimed the honour of being the ‘greatest footballer of the 20th century’. However, FIFA changed the rules of voting and honoured both the players in the year 2001.