The best of Diego and Pele

Diego Maradona

A skillful midfielder capable of scoring spectacular goals, Argentina’s Diego Maradona was considered the best soccer player in the world during the 1980s. In 1986 he led Argentina to a World Cup title.

Diego Maradona, born in 1960, Argentine soccer player, who led Argentina to a World Cup title in 1986. An outstanding midfielder, considered the heir to Brazilian player Pelé as the world's best player, Maradona earned praise and respect from players and fans for his brilliant play-making and goal-scoring abilities. He achieved celebrity status throughout the world and led a highly visible and extravagant life.
He was born Diego Armando Maradona in Lanús, near Buenos Aires. The son of a factory worker, he began playing soccer for Las Cebollitas, a children's team, at the age of nine. At the age of 16 he was the youngest player to join Argentina's national team. Though he was already a star when Argentina hosted the World Cup in 1978, Maradona was not selected for that year's national team and did not participate in his country's victory in the tournament. In 1979, however, he was voted South American player of the year. He led Argentina to its second World Cup title in 1986 and to the finals in 1990. He played for the professional soccer team of Barcelona in Spain from 1982 to 1984 and was then acquired in 1984 by Napoli, an Italian team from the city of Naples. With his help Napoli won the Italian League title for the first time in 1989.
Maradona encountered career problems after he was accused of drug use in 1991. That year he was dropped by the Naples team and barred from international competition for 15 months while facing drug charges in Argentina. In September 1992 he rejoined international soccer when he was signed by Seville, a team from Seville, Spain. Maradona struggled with Seville and was released by the team after one season. Despite having admitted that the training sessions overwhelmed him, he returned to Argentina in 1993 to attempt another professional comeback. During the 1994 World Cup, however, Maradona received a 15-month suspension from international competition for testing positive for banned drugs. He subsequently became coach of the Argentine soccer team Racing Club, but he resigned the post in mid-1995. Later that year, when his playing ban expired, Maradona joined the Boca Juniors team of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Diego Maradona at World Cup 1994: the fallen angel

And so to the end of this story, which has intertwined the experiences and narrative of four World Cups, a footballing legend idolised and vilified in equal measure, and the coming of age of boy raised by a single parent, who fell in love with football and subconsciously opted to forgo supporting a team in order to embrace all that the beautiful game had to offer.

The actual story of the 1994 World Cup and Maradona’s part in it is relatively short. His playing time for the entire tournament is restricted to two appearances, totalling 173 minutes on the field of play. It is the build-up to, and the aftermath of, those 173 minutes where the real narrative of Maradona’s fourth World Cup lies.

For myself, after Italia 90 it was a time for some growing up. I was officially an adult and now needed to work for a living. Up until 1990, I had lived a simple but blessed life, which consisted of football and friends and not much else. I was lucky to be a player talented enough that local teams wanted me to play for them. I also went to schools where football was the primary sport and the elevated social standing that being good at football gave you.

Now my time was taken up with work, which at times meant I couldn’t play football on the weekend or watch it on the television.

Between 1990 and 1994 football went through a revolution in England. The introduction of the Premier League in 1992 revolutionised football as a product for consumption, and the Taylor Report addressed the dire lack of consideration given to football fans in this country. This resulted in an overhauling the safety of stadiums and the environment in which football was viewed. These immense social shifts in football as a product are still reverberating around the sport today.

Football was evolving and metamorphosing into a global phenomenon. At the same time, I was shrinking and withdrawing from the ethereal hold it had on me throughout my entire childhood. I was never more disconnected from football as I was between Italia 90 and USA 94. Football was progressing and it was leaving me behind. Football was no longer the most important thing in my life.

If I thought I was having societal issues with the game, it was nothing compared to what Maradona was going through post-Italia 90. Having lost the World Cup final in his adopted homeland, Maradona went back to play for Napoli. Rumours had already been rife about his associations with the mafia and his drug and alcohol abuse while in Naples. Then finally the dam broke.

After a Serie A fixture against Bari in March 1991, the Argentine tested positive for cocaine and was subsequently banned from all football for 15 months by FIFA. Certain sources claimed that Maradona had battled a drug problem since his time in Barcelona; now, finally, all those rumours became a certainty. The term druggie was now thrown around with abandonment, dovetailing nicely with cheat, which was still in vogue with the British press whenever Maradona’s name was mentioned.

The news crushed me: football was changing and I wasn’t ready for it. Now the one constant in my footballing life, the man who had always been there, always turned up every four years without fail to bring joy into my life, had been removed. Maradona was the only fix that could see me through this state of flux and now I was going to have to deal with the withdrawal symptoms.

I may have been 21-years-old but the child in me couldn’t, and probably still doesn’t, reconcile how off-pitch activities tarnish the achievements on the pitch. Maradona was the greatest I had ever seen and probably will ever see.

Read  |  Diego Maradona at World Cup 1982: the innocent devil

El Diego left Italy and headed back to his homeland to see out his ban in splendid isolation. Football was no longer the most important thing in his life.     

Following the serving of his ban, the former Barcelona player signed for Sevilla in La Liga, where he was reunited with his World Cup-winning manager, Carlos Bilardo. Maradona played 26 games for the Spanish side, but at the end of the 1992-93 season, the Argentine returned home and signed for Newell’s Old Boys.

Here we go, I knew my man would be back. Finally, something to alleviate the tedium that was international football in the early 1990s. Paul Gascoigne had the potential to occupy a place alongside the Argentine in my affections until a self-induced injury had put him out of football for a year. But now there was at least a chance of seeing the Argentine one last time on the world stage.

The World Cup in the USA never really sat comfortably with me at the time. It was probably because my stereotypical view centred around why anyone would hold a World Cup in a country that doesn’t appear to care or have an interest in football?

While my independence of club influence and biased nationalistic support is well documented throughout this story, looking back I was clearly a traditionalist. Football was called football. Soccer – in my opinion at the time – was a word invented by Americans for convenience, because they already had a sport called football. World Cups were supposed to be shared between Europe and South America. They were the heartlands of football and that is where the competition should be held if it was to be a success.

Regardless of my opinion, FIFA had opted to award the USA the 1994 World Cup as an alleged sweetener for the poor treatment they received when campaigning to host the 1986 edition. Rumours at the time had persisted that while João Havelange and the FIFA Committee had listened to the hour-long pitch by the Americans to take over the tournament from Columbia, they had already decided it was going to be given to Mexico. 

Two years later, the FIFA president acknowledged the potential for market profits by awarding the World Cup to the biggest capitalist nation on the planet.

England had long since failed to qualify for the first World Cup outside of Europe or South America. The national side’s failure to progress under Graham Taylor was spectacularly documented in the Channel 4 documentary The Impossible Job, or more memorably ‘Do I Not Like That’. In fact, no home nation qualified for the 1994 World Cup. All British eyes turned to the Republic of Ireland for familiar names and players upon which to hang their supportive hat.

Meanwhile, La Albiceleste were also struggling to qualify for the tournament. Losing 5-0 to Colombia in Buenos Aires was a particular low-point in their campaign. Maradona, meanwhile, watched with the rest of his country as a fan in the stands unable to impact on Argentina’s woeful qualifying performances.

Coco Basile had taken over as manger and had decided to stick with the squad that had won the previous two Copa Américas for their World Cup qualifying campaign. As a result, the former captain found himself a frustrated spectator. From a footballing perspective, the decision made sense. Post-Italia 90, Argentina had built a strong national side, which included Gabriel Batistuta, Diego Simeone and the experienced Claudio Caniggia, and were expected to easily qualify for the World Cup.

Read  |  Diego Maradona at World Cup 1986: the archangel

Then it came – the call to arms, the SOS, the prayer to the heavens. Argentina en masse called for Maradona. Basile’s men had managed to secure themselves one last chance to qualify in the shape of a two-legged playoff against Australia. If they were to negotiate this final hurdle they would need El Diego. So once more, like an angel answering the prayers of the mortal, Maradona returned to save his country.

After securing a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Australia, Maradona led his country to a fortuitous 1-0 win in Buenos Aires thanks to a deflected goal. The Argentine populace didn’t care – their side had qualified and their talisman was back to lead them in a fourth World Cup finals.

Despite England not being at the finals in the Land of the Free, all the usual protagonists were in attendance – Brazil, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and Argentina – but my boyhood enthusiasm for a month of televised football no longer existed, and for those who truly love football you cannot feign excitement and interest if it is not there.

Before we get to the actual tournament, there are two points of note worth acknowledging. In the lead up to the first game, Maradona pulled out of the Argentine World Cup squad in February, citing too much pressure was being put on him and he couldn’t cope mentally with the expectation of the Argentine public.

Diego Maradona Pleads With Lionel Messi Not To Retire From International Football

Argentinian legend Diego Maradona has pleaded with country man and current Argentina captain Lionel Messi not to retire from International football following Argentina’s Copa America Centenario final loss to Chile.

SEE ALSO: Messi Announces Retirement From National Team

After losing his fourth final for his country – after the World Cup two years ago and the Copa America in 2007 and 2015 – an emotional Messi said: ‘That’s it. It’s over for me with the national team. But Maradona has urged the Barcelona man to think carefully about his future.

The press camped outside his house for two days demanding an explanation for his decision. Maradona opted for actions rather than words and fired an air rifle from his driveway at the assembled news crews. hitting four separate members of the press. The police were called and legal action was taken by the wounded. 

In the days before social media, you either waited for the news at 6 o’clock, 9 o’clock and 10 o’clock or you checked Ceefax to access information. I did all of the above. I didn’t miss a news bulletin. For me it was akin to Santa going on strike in December. I offered up silent prayers that this would all be sorted out before June. Maradona’s presence at the ’94 World Cup was the only thing it had going for it. 

The other discussion point is the persistent rumour that FIFA were aware of Maradona’s drug taking prior to the tournament starting, offering him immunity from drug testing procedures, essentially giving him a free pass to carry on using banned substances in an effort to get fit for the tournament. This was because FIFA were apprehensive that the tournament lacked a star name.

So finally the XV World Cup arrived. Containing a convicted drug user, who had been the best footballer in the world, and a 21-year-old man coming to terms with his changing relationship with the sport of football and his feelings of apathy towards a tournament that had been the very essence of his being as a child.

Argentina’s first group game was against Greece at the Foxboro stadium in front of 54,000 fans. Despite only just managing to qualify, La Albicelestes were still one of the favourites for the tournament. Unlike previous World Cup competitions, Argentina had a strong squad and wouldn’t be solely reliant on the ageing Maradona.

Maradona’s return to the World Cup momentarily woke me from my almost automated viewing of the tournament. I could feel that old sense of nervous excitement: would the number 10 be able to produce anything magical? Just for a couple of hours it was like being 13 again. But that is what true artists or people who transcend their vocation do. They can make you believe and inspire emotions in you that you thought had gone.

Read  |  Diego Maradona and the reality behind the Hand of God

Argentina were outstanding against a poor Greek side. Two-nil up at half-time thanks to Batistuta, the Argentines were looking good. Maradona had visibly undergone a playing metamorphosis; he was no longer the bullish player, running with the ball at his feet at every opportunity, but was now playing as a one-touch conduit who kept the South Americans ticking along. He was still dictating the pace of the game, albeit with fewer touches.

On the hour mark the renaissance was complete. Six one-touch passes around the edge of Greece’s penalty area saw the ball arrive at Maradona’s left foot. He took one touch to kill the ball, one touch to get the ball out of his feet, and then the third touch saw the ball arrow into the top left corner of the goal. The goalkeeper didn’t even move.

Despite being surrounded by four opposition players, the number 10 still had all the old magic. Several replays showed the ball hitting the back of the net from different angles. The final replay showed the subsequent celebration.

Running to the sideline looking directly into the camera, eyes bulging, mouth wide open with undeterminable noise coming out, before throwing his head forward to the lens. It was like a 3D version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream. It is footage that has become as iconic as the Hand of God and the 10.80 seconds it took to score his second against England.

I was taken aback at the sight of the celebration. Either with incredible insight or colluding with the British consensus of Maradona, my mum sat there and succinctly commented: “It wouldn’t surprise me if he was taking something.” 

The petulant child in me rose to the surface. “You can’t say that.” I had invested 12 years, over half of my natural life, following this man. It is ok to have an opinion but I took the comment personally. My mum may as well have accused me of drug taking. Besides, he had just demonstrated everything that made him great. 

Maradona was substituted after 83 minutes and left the pitch to a standing ovation. Argentina went on to win 4-0 with Batistuta completing his hat-trick. The qualifying trauma had been forgotten and I had my waning attention momentarily refocused on the tournament, thanks to the diminutive Argentine captain.

Next up for Basile’s side was Nigeria, who also had a good side, with many of their players playing in the big European leagues. Nigeria unexpectedly went 1-0 up after only eight minutes, but the Argentines refused to panic and, after 28 minutes, order had been restored with two Claudio Caniggia goals. The second one was set up by a quick free-kick from Maradona.

Argentina saw the game out to win 2-1. Maradona left the field holding hands with a medical nurse who was responsible for taking the Argentine captain to the drug testing area. It is not a familiar site in football, and certainly not at a World Cup, to see a player escorted off the pitch by the testing authorities. However, Mardona was all smiles and waved to the adoring crowd as he left, still clutching the medics left-hand.   

The game finished, the coverage on the television ended, and I didn’t give the drug test another thought. Instead, I was happy in the knowledge that the only reason for watching USA 94 had just about guaranteed Argentina’s qualification into the knockout rounds. There was nothing to worry about.

Read  |  Diego Maradona at World Cup 1990: the weeping angel

Four days later, on 29 June, that paragon of virtue, Sepp Blatter, announced: “Both analysis of the urine sample have proved positive. The player Diego Maradona of the Argentinian national team has therefore violated the conditions of the doping control regulations, in the match Argentina, Nigeria.”

Maradona had tested positive for ephedrine. I remember the announcement of Ben Johnson’s positive drug test after the 1988 Olympics. The feeling was anger, but not towards the athlete. I didn’t care about  Johnson. It was about the spectacle I had witnessed, the greatest ever 100 metres final, and it turned out to be a sham.

This time I didn’t care about the result or the game. This time I didn’t feel anger – I felt a crushing disappointment for the man whose career I had followed intently from any source possible, a person who, when I was a child, I had naively forgiven for all his misdemeanours. Maradona inadvertently had finally had one more go at killing my indefatigable love of football.

In that moment, I changed from being an eternal optimist about the beautiful game to being a sceptic. Everything to do with football from that point onwards would be questioned or second-guessed. I don’t blame Diego Maradona directly; he gave me far to many positive memories and excitement as player in his prime.

Fortunately – though some may say unfortunately – our lives are inextricably linked, to the extent that many of my football memories and emotions are tied up with his career and his actions.

The man from the slums of Buenos Aires was given another 15-month ban from all football and excluded immediately from the World Cup squad. Basile’s men did not win another game at the tournament. They lost their remaining group game 2-0 to Bulgaria before going out in the next round after losing 3-2 to Romania.

Maradona’s life after his playing career is another story in itself and not one that I am overly concerned with telling. It is Maradona the player who enthralled me as a child and as an adult. I will be forever grateful that my childhood coincided with ‘D10S’ emergence as an international star.

Never has a player’s greatness divided opinion; never has a player been worshipped and vilified in equal measure; never has a player dominated an entire World Cup tournament; and never has a player had such a lifelong impact on a young teenager in Yorkshire, sat at home watching an old black and white television.

It is perhaps most apt to finish this story with the final piece of World Cup commentary regarding the Argentine captain. These final few words of the Argentina-Nigeria game best sum up exactly what he was about and how I will always remember Diego Armando Maradona. Over to match commentator Clive Tyldesley: “Maradona again, oh they just can’t get the ball off him. Can he get a goal? He deserves one. That should be a penalty, surely? Look at this. Nobody can say he is finished.”

Despite everything he has subsequently done in his life, I would never trade in my hero. The greatest compliment I can pay him is that he was the catalyst for the best childhood a boy could have.

Pelé

Acclaimed Brazilian soccer player Pelé (in green shirt) began his professional soccer career in 1956 playing for Santos, a Brazilian club team. At age 17 he helped the Brazilian national team capture the 1958 World Cup, scoring two goals in the final against Sweden. With the help of Pelé’s goal scoring and leadership, Brazil captured two more World Cups, in 1962 and 1970. Pelé retired from professional soccer in 1974, but came out of retirement to play professional soccer in the United States until 1977. He is credited with popularizing soccer in the United States.

Pelé, born in 1940, Brazilian soccer player who is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Pelé led Brazil to international dominance in soccer and three World Cup titles from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. He later helped popularize the sport in the United States.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Brazil, Pelé grew up playing soccer (known as futebol in Brazil) in the streets of his hometown. Pelé’s father had been a professional player in the sport before injuries ended his career. Many Brazilian futebol players are known by a nickname—Pelé acquired his as a young boy, and later would say he did not know where it came from or what it means.
When Pelé was 15 years old and a promising player, his local coach tried to persuade the major soccer teams in São Paulo to sign him. They showed no interest, but the coach for the team in the coastal city of Santos signed Pelé for his junior team. Pelé was quickly promoted to the main team and became a star, showing an incredible instinct for the game along with a powerful shot, skillful ball control, and brilliant passing and field strategy.
Two years later, in 1958, Pelé made the prestigious Brazilian national team and appeared in his first World Cup. Not yet 18 years old, he became an international star when he scored six goals during the tournament, including three in one game against France and two in the final against host team Sweden. Pelé would go on to become the first player to appear on three World Cup title teams (1958, 1962, and 1970). His participation in the 1962 and 1966 tournaments was limited by injuries (often a result of vicious play), however, and Brazil lost its title to England in 1966. He remains among the all-time leading scorers in World Cup history with 12 goals.
Pelé was also a star on the club level. His Santos squad toured the world, winning the world club championship in 1962 and 1963. He led his league in scoring 11 times and in 1969 netted his 1,000th career goal. He retired from Santos in 1974 as one of the world’s most famous athletes.
Pelé stunned the sporting community in 1975 by coming out of retirement to play with the New York Cosmos of the growing North American Soccer League (NASL). His decision to play was motivated in part by the desire to increase the popularity of the game in America, the largest market in the world where soccer was not a leading sport. Pelé led the Cosmos to a league championship in 1977, then retired again. In the mid-1990s, with Brazil’s national soccer program beset by charges of corruption, Pelé accepted a position as the country’s sports minister. He continued to promote the game around the world. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee named Pelé the soccer player of the century.

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Ronaldo, born in 1976, Brazilian soccer player, a prolific goal-scorer. Ronaldo scored both goals in the 2002 World Cup final to lead Brazil to a record fifth title.

He was born Luíz Nazário de Lima Ronaldo in the Bento Ribeiro area of Rio de Janeiro. In the Brazilian tradition, however, he is known simply by a single name: Ronaldo. He learned the game of soccer (known as fútbol in Brazil) in the streets of his neighborhood as a boy. In 1990, while still just 13 years old, he scored a hat trick (three goals) in a game for São Cristavão, a local professional team. Three years later he was sold to a larger team, Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte. A center forward with great speed, skill, strength, and a powerful shot, Ronaldo became a superstar, scoring 58 goals in 60 games for Cruzeiro.

At 17 years old Ronaldo won a place on Brazil’s 1994 World Cup squad, but he watched from the bench as the Brazilians won the championship. After the World Cup his contract was sold by Cruzeiro to PSV Eindhoven, a team in The Netherlands, where he became the top scorer during the 1994-95 season. A knee injury kept Ronaldo out of soccer for most of the next season, but early in 1996 Barcelona purchased his contract for the second highest fee in the world up to that time. In Spain he continued to excel, becoming the top goal-scorer in Europe in 1996-97 with 34 goals and helping Barcelona win the European Cup Winners’ Cup. A two-time winner of the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Player of the Year award (1996 and 1997), Ronaldo was transferred to Internazionale in Milan, Italy, in 1997. He ended his first season as the league's top scorer, tallying 25 goals in 32 matches and helping his team to the 1998 UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Cup victory. However, his second and subsequent seasons in Milan were limited by a series of injuries.

While playing for the Brazilian national team, Ronaldo scored five goals as Brazil won the Copa America in 1997. Despite playing well in the 1998 World Cup and leading his team to the final, he failed to score in a 3-0 loss to France in the title match amid uncertainty about his physical and mental state for the game. After coping with knee injuries for several years, he came back to the Brazilian national squad in time for the 2002 World Cup tournament, which Brazil won. He had eight goals in the tournament to win the Golden Boot award as the competition’s highest scorer. Through 2002 Ronaldo had scored 47 goals for the Brazilian national team.

In late 2002 Ronaldo returned to Spain in a transfer to Real Madrid, one of the world’s top professional clubs. Also in 2002 he again won the World Player of the Year award, becoming the first player to capture the award three times. In 2007 Ronaldo left Real Madrid after signing an 18-month contract to play for AC Milan (Associazione Calcio Milan).