60 years of Maradona: hand of God, goal of the century, mafia ... the 1000 lives of El Pibe de Oro

60 years old… Argentinian legend Diego Maradona enters this Friday in the sexagenarian, drugs and rock'n'roll chapter of a tumultuous life made up of (very) highs and (very, very) lows.

Brilliant on a pitch, sulphurous outside, El Pibe de Oro, now coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata (L1 Argentina), has marked the history of football.

Even the story itself.

On the tails, one of the greatest ball handlers, world champion in 1986 and icon of Naples, whom he led to the top after a half-hearted stint at FC Barcelona.

On the other side, more than troubled relations with the mafia, an addiction to cocaine (two positive tests in 1991 and 1994) and verbal slippages as numerous as his swaying dribbles.

In Buenos Aires, the avenue of 9 de Julio, the widest on the planet, houses an XXL portrait in tribute to the Diez who remains, despite escapades, in the hearts of Argentines.

The hand of God and the goal of the century

Unforgettable June 22, 1986. Against the backdrop of great tensions linked to the consequences of the Falklands war four years earlier, Argentina faces England in the quarter-finals of the Mexican World Cup.

Without doubt THE match that best sums up the ambivalence of the character Maradona.

Able to go beyond the worst and the best.

Even those who were not born or the refractory of the round ball saw these images.

We play the 51st minute and no team has managed to make the difference in the Aztec stadium in Mexico.

On a missed clearance, the little Diego, 1.65 m, is too short 18 cm compared to the British goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

So, the No. 10 of Albiceleste does not take gloves to put his fist and open the scoring.

Despite the vehement protests of the English, at a time when the VAR was just a department, the Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur, badly assisted by his linesman, validates the goal.

"He was marked a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God", slips the Argentinian after the match ...

Todo esto in a world solo.

DEMENCIAL pic.twitter.com/NET2wKx9KW

- Diario Olé (@DiarioOle) October 30, 2020

Four minutes after robbing the English, El Pibe de Oro flies over them.

He starts from his right side, dribbles half of the opposing team, clears Shilton and ends up tackling the net.

Going in 240 seconds from the Hand of God to the "goal of the century".

A few days later, Argentina won the World Cup.

He (almost) signed for OM

Summer 1989. The rumor begins to swell.

What if Maradona, disgraced in Italy, landed on the Canebière?

OM supporters are already dreaming of a triptych Papin, Francescoli, Maradona to win the Champions Clubs Cup, ancestor of the Champions League.

They are not the only ones.

Bernard Tapie, the then president, listened attentively to his sports director Michel Hidalgo.

"We were looking for

player who would take OM to a new level," explained the former French coach, who died last March, in So Foot.

And at that time,

player is Maradona.

We knew he was no longer 100% happy with his club, information had leaked.

Tapie drove off, told me it wasn't about the money, and offered to take his private plane to meet Maradona at his home in Naples.

"

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After a dinner, the South American idol could already see himself at his home in Cassis.

But the president of Naples, Corrado Ferlaino, has always refused to release his captain, who considered himself "a prisoner".

Tapie returned to the charge in 1992, when Maradona was suspended for fourteen months for doping, but the Argentine was much less motivated and his financial claims a little high.

He will do a season in Seville before returning to finish his career in Argentina.

He has his own religion

Creator, Prophet ... Some enthusiasts devote a real cult to the former playmaker of Boca Juniors or Barça (who himself swears by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara).

To the point of having founded on October 30, 1998 a religious movement called the Maradonian Church.

Born in Rosario from the spirit of three faithful, the Church brings together around 100,000 followers in some sixty countries.

Practitioners meet every year on the two holy days (Maradonian Christmas, October 29 and Maradonian Easter, every June 22).

Maradonian marriages are even celebrated.

The “Ours Diego” replaces the Our Father.

It ends thus: "Give us today our daily happiness, Forgive the English as we forgive the Neapolitan mafia, Don't let us spoil the ball, And deliver us from Havelange

.

"

He almost died

Excess of all kinds, obesity and cocaine… The cocktail is hardly digestible.

In April 2004, Maradona suffered from a severe heart attack.

Treated in Cuba, the former midfielder had to undergo gastric bypass surgery to relieve him of forty kilos and undergo detoxification.

Three years later, a new malaise due, among other things, to excessive alcohol consumption led to hospitalization in Buenos Aires.

These days, the Argentine is in quarantine after coming into contact with someone with Covid-19.

He didn't spark on the bench

October 28, 2008. After having led Deportivo Mandiyu and Racing in the mid-1990s, Maradona was appointed Argentina national team coach in place of Alfio Basile.

Difficult beginnings exacerbated by his haughty and irascible behavior.

Despite everything, he manages to qualify the country for the 2010 South African World Cup, but with profanity, the divorce with public opinion is over.

He was finally fired in July 2010.

Diego Maradona in his Argentina coach costume at the 2010 World Cup ./REUTERS/David Grau  

He then became coach of Al Wasl in Dubai, Fujairah Sports Club in D2 of the United Arab Emirates, Dorados de Sinaloa (Mexican D2), president of Dinamo Brest (Belarusian D1) and finally coach of Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata .

He must have given his earrings ... to the tax authorities

During his time in Naples, Maradona was more concerned with filling in the opposing nets than his tax returns.

In 2005, the Court of Cassation had thus condemned him to pay more than 37 million to the Italian tax authorities!

In 2006, the transalpine authorities seized two of his watches, worth 11,000 euros, during a visit to Naples.

Rebelote in 2009. In full slimming cure in Merano, the ex-star, who has always denied having defrauded, sees the officials of the financial police come to unload his valuables.

They will leave with two gold earrings estimated at 4,000 euros.

For the record, only one found a buyer during an auction for the modest sum of 25,000 eruos.

His son is Italian champion

During her seven Neapolitan years, Maradona paid for herself with sacred slices of life.

Some glorious (two Scudetti, an Italian Cup, an Italian Supercup and a UEFA Cup), others much less (links with the mafia, addiction to cocaine ...)

In 1986 Diego Sinagra was born in Naples as a result of the player's extramarital affair with Cristiana Sinagra.

When the young woman revealed the identity of the father of her baby, the case made headlines around the world.

Even though his paternity was confirmed by an Italian court in 1993, Maradona (who now has seven other children) has long denied parentage with her son, who also embraced a (modest) football career.

The two men met for the first time in 2003, before Diego Sr officially recognized Diego Jr in 2007. Which ended up becoming Italian champion… of beach soccer in 2013. And dreams today of seeing his father take the reins… of Napoli.