Diego Maradona Career Achievements: Maradona is more than just a famous football player. His name in Argentina is associated with the main successes of the country in football history, in which Diego Armando himself convincingly takes one of the first two places.
Diego Maradona Career Achievements
Career
- Argentinos Juniors (1976-1981; 166 matches, 116 goals).
- Boca Juniors (1981-1982; 40 matches, 28 goals).
- Barcelona Spain (1982-1984; 58 matches, 38 goals).
- Napoli Italy (1984-1991; 259 matches, 115 goals).
- Sevilla Spain (1992-1993; 29 matches, 7 goals).
- Newell’s Old Boys (1993; 5 matches).
- Boca Juniors (1995-1997; 30 matches, 7 goals).
- Argentina national team (1977-1994; 91 matches, 34 goals).
Team Achievements
- World Champion 1986.
- Silver medalist at the 1990 World Championship.
- Bronze medalist at the 1989 America’s Cup.
- Winner of the World Youth Championship in 1979.
- UEFA Cup Winner 1989.
- Champion of Argentina 1981.
- Winner of the Spanish Cup in 1983.
- Winner of the Spanish Super Cup in 1984.
- Champion of Italy 1987, 1990.
- Silver medalist of the Italian championships in 1988, 1989.
- Bronze medalist of the Italian championship in 1986.
- Winner of the Italian Cup in 1987.
- Winner of the Italian Super Cup 1990.
Personal Achievements
- FIFA Player of the Century.
- The best athlete of the 20th century in Argentina.
- South American Footballer of the Year 1979, 1980.
- Footballer of the Year in Argentina 1979-1981.
- The best player in the 1986 World Cup.
- The best player in the youth world championship in 1979.
- Five-time top scorer of the Argentine championships (1978-1980).
- Top scorer of the Italian championship in 1988.
- Top scorer of the 1988 Coppa Italia.
Golden Boy
Maradona was born into a poor family with many children and at the time of his birth was the first son of his parents. As befits an Argentinean child, football became the main occupation for Diego. And if at first all his exploits were limited only to matches in the courtyards and on wastelands near the house, then upon reaching the age of eight, Maradona finds himself in the Argentinos Juniors children’s professional team.
The boy at the first viewing in his life made such a strong impression that the coach assigned him to the team for 14-year-olds, in which Maradona soon became the leader. In each match, the young football player showed real miracles – his performance went off the scale, and his dribbling drove his opponents crazy.
At the age of twelve, Diego is transferred to the youth team, but he plays in it under a false name – his age is below the allowable one. But he does not prevent Maradona from shining against guys 5-6 years older than himself.
Diego leads his team to victories in various cups, and in a short time, he passes through a sieve of duplicate squads and, shortly before his sixteenth birthday, makes his debut in the Argentinos Juniors main team.
Star of The Continent
Maradona’s debut in adult football did not go unnoticed. The talented boy was known for a long time, so his appearance on the field caused a strong resonance among journalists. And Maradona did not disappoint, quickly winning a place in the main team of the Juniors. Moreover, a few months later, Diego receives a call from the national team of his country!
Maradona is feeling more and more confident as an adult and is becoming a centerpiece for his club. Well-known European giants begin to hunt for him, but Maradona does not want to leave the country, especially since the 1978 World Cup is approaching, which should take place just the same in Argentina.
The Main Events In The Career of Maradona
He sleeps and sees himself in the national team jersey and is rightly considered a candidate for the team. However, the young player was not destined to become a participant in the main event of the four-year period – Maradona was the last to be unhooked from Argentina’s preliminary application for the tournament.
For a young football player, such a development of events was a disaster, but he promised himself not to give up and prove to everyone that this decision of the coaching staff was a mistake.
Having come to his senses, Diego continued to work with even greater zeal and finally established himself in the status of the main star of his team. Despite the fact that he took a position on the field under the attackers, this did not prevent him from regularly replenishing his sniper account.
Maradona wins the goalscoring race and will retain the title of the main goalscorer of the championship for several years in a row. In total, Diego became the most productive player in the domestic championship five times and occupies first place in history by this indicator.
Things are going well for Maradona in the youth team. In its composition, he becomes the silver medalist of the South American Championship and wins the first gold in his career at the international level – Argentina wins the World Championship among youth teams. Of course, Diego Maradona is recognized as the best player of the tournament, who becomes the player of the year in Argentina and South America.
The year 1979 confirmed that a real superstar had lit up in the football firmament. Now everyone was worried about only one question – how long Maradona could hold out at the highest level, which he set for himself.
Being left-handed, Maradona seems to stick the ball to his leg and is constantly on the move – when Diego starts dribbling, it is almost impossible to take the ball away without violating the rules. Plus, he has a well-placed shot from an average distance and, of course, he sees the field perfectly, which is necessary for a football player of his role.
Maradona is unconditionally the best player on the continent, the increased attention of the press and television is riveted to him, and Diego is happy to contact the media. However, this behavior is not liked by the leadership of his club, and Maradona comes into conflict with his bosses. As a result of mutual reproaches, he goes to Boca Juniors, one of the most influential Argentine clubs.
This transfer blew up Argentine football and instantly enriched Maradona, who was finally able to move his family to a new home. And on the field, he was still inimitable and led his new team to victory in the championship. True, his successes in Boca are limited to this achievement – Maradona again did not get along with the club’s management and was forced to leave it.
Idol of Naples
Despite the fact that he was temporarily left without a team, his participation in the 1982 World Cup did not raise any questions – there was no stronger player on the continent then. That’s it – and the Argentine magician will be appreciated by the rest of the world.
Of course, Maradona showed himself, it was clear that this is the first football wizard since Pele, nevertheless, Diego’s efforts were not enough for Argentina to defend the title. Maradona was subjected to the most severe personal tutelage in key matches with Italians and Brazilians, and there were no other trump cards in the team.
However, the Argentine passed his first world exam rather than failed. Otherwise, Maradona would never have ended up in Barcelona. The bosses of the Catalans have long been famous for their special reverence for bright players, so they could not help but invite Diego to their club. So Maradona left Argentina to glorify his country abroad.
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To say that he succeeded is to be modest. The eighties are entirely the time of Maradona. And although due to injuries and disagreements with the management that have already become familiar to him, he failed to become a legend of Barcelona, ​​the fans of the blue garnets will forever remember the Argentine strong man. In two inferior seasons, Diego managed to charm everyone who follows Spanish football.
But they were still flowers. After leaving Catalonia, Maradona moves to Italy – his transfer is redeemed by Napoli. Diego got into the Serie A middle team and made it the leader of the strongest European Championship. Under him, Naples twice celebrated the victory in the Italian championship and raised glasses in honor of the triumph in the UEFA Cup.
In Italy, Maradona proved absolutely everything. Caught in tough defensive schemes, Diego gave a truly enchanting performance of seven seasons. Incredible goals, mind-blowing dribbling, radio-controlled transmissions – almost any element of the attacking game was given to the Argentine best in the world.
Perhaps the history of football before Maradona did not know such an influence of one individual player on the team’s results. In addition to his technical magic, Diego had a truly outstanding character and spirit of the winner.
They beat him, he continued to run forward, they dropped him, he got up and walked on. Of course, the mixture of phenomenal natural talent and persistent character cannot but please the fans – Maradona became the hero of Naples.
Argentina Idol
And for Argentina, he was, perhaps, God, the most respected person in his country. Having missed the opportunity to become the world champion in 1978, eight years later, Maradona leads his country to a second triumph in the world championships. On the fields of Mexico, he gave one of the best individual shows in the history of football, successively making doubles in the quarter-final and semi-final meetings and leading his team to the final.
In the decisive match, Maradona did not score goals, but he scored a decisive assist. Diego is absolutely deservedly recognized as the best player in the championship – without him, Argentina cannot see success. And, of course, the concert arranged by Maradona in the quarterfinals against the British will forever remain in history.
First, in some mystical way, he managed to score a goal in violation of the rules (Diego himself called it the Hand of God), and then Maradona shocked the world with a pass from the middle of the field and a goal into an empty net. FIFA later recognizes this goal scored as the best goal in the history of the World Cup. Four years later, a completely different Argentina came to Italy to defend the title – except for Maradona, it did not have really experienced and strong players. But this did not deter the Argentine genius, who was inspired by the game in the stadiums, where over the year.
He showed hitherto unseen tricks.
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The team’s game was frankly dull, and all hope remained only on Maradona. And Diego did not disappoint – he literally dragged his team to the final on himself, in which the Germans managed to take revenge for the defeat in 1986.
Sunset of the Great Master
In truth, after the Italian World Cup, Maradona’s entire career went awry. In March 1991, after another Serie A match, Diego was called for doping control, the result of which shocked everyone who heard about the Argentine legend. Cocaine was found in Maradona’s body. He was immediately disqualified for 15 months.
Further events in the life of Maradona are not very pleasant to remember. Soon, drugs were found in his Argentine home, and their owner was detained and admitted that he had been using potent substances for a long time. Such a statement meant one thing – from now on, Maradona’s grandiose career will be approaching its decline.
And so it happened – after serving the suspension, Diego himself asked for a team with less ambition than Napoli and ended up in Sevilla, the middle peasant of the Spanish Examples. It was no longer the same Maradona, who was marked in the Pyrenees in Barcelona form.
However, despite the injuries and the extra weight that appeared, Diego attracted great interest from the public. Moreover, he was even offered to become the team’s playing coach, but Maradona refused, and after a series of scandals with the head coach, the Sevilla management decided to get rid of the aging and obstinate legend.
Diego returned to Argentina, and the last five years of his football career can be summed up in one word – torment. During this time, he failed doping tests twice, one of which was at the 1994 World Cup. Despite the fact that Maradona left the national team back in 1990, he was asked to return. And he agreed, having managed to play two matches in the USA before the ill-fated doping control.
The main conclusion from what he saw in the American fields is that you can’t drink away skill. Let Maradona become slower, heavier, but his left leg, as before, regularly worked wonders. He skillfully conducted the game in midfield and scored a mind-blowing goal for the Greeks. Even in this state, Diego was the best in his team, which frankly drooped when it lost its captain.
Historical Heritage
Most likely, if drugs had not appeared in Maradona’s life, Diego could have kept his divine level for another 3-4 years, but even the fact of taking illegal drugs does not at all lower the greatness of the Argentinean. Football is a game for spectators, and they, first of all, imbue those who are closer to them in spirit – open, sincere people, even if they make mistakes but live the way they want.
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Throughout his career completely surrendered to the game, sometimes he showed emotions too violently, but he was never indifferent. In the same way, he was remembered for a short time as coach of the Argentina national team, even if he did not achieve success with her.
Despite the failed coaching career, numerous scandals, drugs, he remains a positive hero for everyone – he did such grandiose things on the football field. Wise people see the main thing, and in Diego’s life, football always took first place – a game that he turned into an art that does not lose its relevance to this day.