(CNN Spanish) -
Today the world has lost a legend who has not only left his mark on sports, but also global history.
The Argentine star Diego Armando Maradona passed away leaving behind a turbulent life full of feats, defeats and above all, controversies.
Some may remember him for his masterful left foot.
Others, for his irreverence and his historical phrases: there is no doubt that both things made him a figure as iconic as he was controversial.
But if there is one thing for sure, it is that Diego Armando Maradona will be remembered as one of the names that marked a before and after in the history of world football.
MIRA: Sex, drugs and football: Diego Maradona's documentary talks about his years at Naples
Maradona began to show the profile of a soccer genius in one of the most humble areas of Buenos Aires.
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It is about Villa Fiorito, the neighborhood that saw him born on October 30, 1960.
There he trained on and off the courts, until before he was 15 years old, when his signing with Argentinos Juniors was the perfect opportunity, not only to make the leap to professional football when he was still a teenager, but to get his family out of the game. unease, marginalization and misery.
Diego made his debut in the first division days before his 16th birthday.
From there, his technique, his imagination and his almost perfect punch catapulted him to world stardom.
But first came the Argentine team.
Diego's dribbling captivated César Luis Menotti, who summoned him to defend the albiceleste, but then left him out of the 1978 Argentina World Cup due to his inexperience.
It could have been the first World Cup in his showcase, but fate kept him waiting.
The consolation prize for Pelusa came 3 years later, when, already established as the best footballer of the moment, he signed with the club of his loves, Boca Juniors.
After 2 years of prowess with the xeneizes, a more manly Diego and the greatest attraction of the national team, landed in Barcelona.
It was a step without pain or glory, and in which the player could barely display flashes of his magic.
Injuries and hepatitis prevented Barsa from giving the best of himself.
From Italy, Napoli saw the opportunity to acquire a Maradona devalued at that time.
It was 1984 and in southern Italy a love story was beginning between the Argentine ten and the city of the camorra.
Two series a scudettos, an Italian Cup and a Uefa Cup were the titles that Maradona gave to a Neapolitan team whose record before that, was almost empty.
However, the peak of his career, and perhaps his life, occurred at the World Cup in Mexico 86.
It was his second World Cup, and at almost 26 years old the talented southpaw led Argentina to the second World Cup in its history.
He also did it with 2 goals in a historic quarter-final performance against England, with all that that meant, with the fresh memory of the Falklands war between both countries.
That was the day the famous hand of god was born.
It was the feat that ended up distinguishing him as a divine figure, above mortals.
4 years later, his albiceleste stayed one game away from also winning the 1990 World Cup in Italy, a tournament that Diego played injured.
But as the twilight of his career approached, that solemnity that illuminated his image was fading.
Fame and money led him to lose control.
And it is that for Diego, it was never easy to control the character that overshadowed the person.
And in '91, he lost his first doping control: the substance was cocaine.
Diego spent the next 15 months under suspension.
After that, he tried to resume his career at Sevilla and also at Newell's, but the 10 was already in decline.
The 1994 World Cup in the United States was his last big sour drink in soccer.
His illusion of defending his country again was shattered when FIFA expelled him from the event for testing positive for ephedrine among other prohibited substances.
Maradona received a 15-month suspension again, and along with that, his stage with the Argentine team had ended.
Diego said goodbye to soccer in 1997, after a brief return to Boca Juniors.
Diego Maradona