Diego Maradona: One of Soccer’s Greatest Players
“Every morning that I get up, I should light a candle to the soccer ball.';
-Diego Maradona
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and one of the most popular soccer player’s in the world is Diego Maradona, star of the Argentina national team and a professional who has led his team to many championships in Argentina, Italy, and Spain. During the 1986 World Cup tournament, won by Argentina, Maradona gave what was perhaps the greatest performance in all of World Cup History. While a national hero in Argentina, Maradona has also earned a reputation for being outspoken and controversial. In what is probably his last international competition, he led Argentina into the World Cup Tournament in the United States.
Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960. He lived in Lanus, Argentina, a suburb of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. He was one of eight children raised in the poor area of Villa Fiorito, one of the roughest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. His father, also named Diego, was a factory worker. His mom, Dalma Franco, was a housewife. Though the family was very poor, there was always food on their table. Maradona received his first soccer ball from his father at the age of three. His father encouraged him to play soccer. Diego practiced all day and slept with the ball all night.
Maradona was soon playing for Argentina’s best youth team, Los Cebollitos (the Little Onions). His team was able to win 140 straight games and Maradona was given jersey number 10, the same number worn by the Brazilian star Pele. At the age of ten, Maradona put on a spectacular exhibition during the half-time of a professional game. “He walked onto the field and proceeded to juggle his soccer ball for the entire intermission, keeping it in the air by bouncing it off his feet, knees, chest, ankles, head, and shoulder as if it were balloon and his body a spring breeze.';
When Maradona was only 15 he signed his first contract with the Argentinos Juniors for $400 a month. Two years later he became the youngest-ever member of the Argentine soccer team. At the time that they were preparing for being host for the 1978 World Cup. Just before the tour...
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...e was very emotional, because he had played on the Italian team before, but he still worked his magic. In the end Maradona ran out of magic and was defeated by West Germany, losing the World Cup.
Maradona has become a star because of his great all-around game. Only 5 foot 5 he is able to avoid defenders with quick bursts of speed. He is often compared to Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
Throughout his career he has made many mistakes. In April 1991 he tested positive for cocaine after an Italian League game and was suspended for 15 months. He was also arrested for trying to buy cocaine a month later.
In the summer of 1993, Maradona announced his retirement. The Argentine team did not miss him much, but when the team was facing elimination from the World Cup, Maradona got in shape and returned to bring the Argentine team to the World Cup. But they were knocked out by Bulgaria.
Off the field Maradona lives with his wife, Claudia Villafane, and three daughters in Buenos Aires. Maradona hopes to coach the Argentine soccer team one day when he is retired from soccer.
Maurice was angered by this but chose to perform his duties completely and even though he used to arrive late, angry and tired for the game, he transformed his aggression into motivation and scored the winning goals that clinched the victory over their only unbeaten team.
time National League All-Star. Throughout his career, he played in 2,433 games. Out of the 9,454 times at bat, Roberto got a hit 3,000 of those times. He had 440 doubles, 166 triples, and 240 homeruns. Roberto had 1,305 RBI’s and he scored 1,416 runs for his team. Overall, his career batting average was a .317. On November 14, 1964, he married Vera Cristina Zabala in Carolina, Puerto Rico. They had three sons: Roberto Jr., Luis Roberto and Roberto Enrique. Proud of his heritage Roberto insisted that Vera give birth to all three sons in Puerto Rico. The boys were six, five and two, when their father met his unfortunate death.
After the revolution of 1943 Juan Perón shared control of the Argentinean government. Under Pedro Ramirez, Perón held three cabinet positions. With that he saw an opportunity. He did many reform programs and won a lot of the support of labor unio...
Ernesto Guevara de Serna was born in Argentina in 1928 into a fairly privileged family. He developed serious asthma at the age of two, which would plague him throughout his life. He was home-schooled by his mother, Celia de la Serna. It was these early years when he became an eager reader of Marx, Engels, and Freud which all were all part of his father's library. He went to secondary school in 1941, the Colegio Nacional Dean Funes, Cordoba, where he excelled in literature and sports.
recognizable athlete in the world. He is not only the top player of his era but
With youth soccer as a raging phenomenon and the steady increase of success in the men’s, and women’s national teams, soccer in the United States is steadily growing. The American people are aching for a higher standing in the soccer world and Major League Soccer is planning on providing by increasing the amount of clubs and providing a more socially dominating presence for the game in the American society. The sport is undoubtedly the most powerful social gathering point modern society has to offer, and with it’s soon to be strong American presence, it will strengthen foreign affairs and create a unifying hobby throughout the American people. Not only will the expansion and popularity gather all society to one global love of the game, but it will help to unify some of the broken pieces of modern society.
Gallo, DJ. "20 Amazing Soccer Facts Most American Sports Fans Don’t Know." SportsPickle RSS. SportsPickle, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
in just one aspect of the game he was a all around player he was a normal sized player and
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