DNA Special: Diego Maradona, the two-faced 'God of football' with flaws

Today we will talk about a footballer who was only 5 feet 5 inches in height but touched the pinnacle of the football world and also dived into the darkness of life. He was none other than Diego Maradona, one of the world's greatest football players, also called 'The God of Football'. He saw heaven and hell on Earth and died Wednesday at the age of 60.

Maradona was a player who, apart from scoring goals, also made mistakes. He was proud of his broad shoulders and felt that with these strong shoulders, he could take enmity with anyone. Let us know about the things that we can learn from Maradona and the weaknesses due to which the 'God of football' also had to see bad days.

In the language of football fans, Maradona was and will always remain immortal. But with this immortality, as a human being, he had all the characteristics and imperfections which made him different from others and also similar to others.

Maradona had once said, "I am Maradona, who scores goals, commits mistakes, I can withstand everything, my shoulders are so broad that I can fight anyone."

It was Maradona's deftness that made him different from other great players.

Born on October 30, 1960, in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, Maradona started playing professional football at the age of 15.

He played his first World Cup in 1982 and scored 2 goals in the tournament. The same year he went to play for Spain's famous football club Barcelona, for which he had got a fee of Rs 56 crore according to today's price. With that deal, he became the world's most expensive player at that time. But Maradona was not happy in Barcelona as he felt suffocated.

Maradona then became a member of an Italian football club 'Napoli' in 1984. The club was financially in trouble, but Maradona still received Rs 77 crore for it. The club took a loan from a bank to pay Maradona's fee. By joining this weak club, Maradona had shown the world that he knows to take risks.

The next football world cup was held in 1986 and was won by Maradona's country Argentina and the biggest role in its victory was that of Maradona.

This World Cup is remembered for two of the most famous goals made by Maradona. The first goal is called the 'Hand of God'. And the other one is called the 'Goal of the Century'. He scored both these goals in a quarter-final against England in a span of four minutes.

Maradona had scored the first goal through his head. In a football game, it is called 'Header'. But in reality, he had scored this goal with his left hand and not with his head.

But the referee failed to notice this and the goal proved fatal for England. When Maradona was asked about the goal after the match, he said, "A little from the head and a little from the Hand of God." It has since been called the 'Hand of God'.

Just four minutes later, Maradona scored another miraculous goal. He ran from his team's half to England's goalpost to score this goal. During this time, he impressed almost every England player and while running at lightning speed, he scored this magnificent goal and with that, England's team got out of the World Cup.

He then continued his journey with the club Napoli of Italy. This club was in Naples, Italy, which was the most backward city of Italy at that time, and there used to be a terror of drug mafias. This club was not in a good condition and it was called 'Back Benchers Club' as it did not have any good players. But Maradona reversed both the game and luck of this club as soon as he arrived.

In 1987, Maradona won the club a big championship in Italy and afterward, the club started challenging the big clubs.

He continues to give success to his club Napoli, but during this time, his life came to center half. This can also be called the interval of Maradona's life because from here on, he tried to reach his goals but could not overcome the challenges he faced.

Maradona was banned for 15 months in 1991 for taking cocaine, drugs and had to return from Italy.

In 1994, he returned to the field for the World Cup, but once again, he was confirmed of taking drugs and was sent back, ending his international career.

In 1997, he announced his retirement after again failing in the drug test. He was 37 years old.

Maradona's football career was of 21 years. However, he tried his best for only 14 years, and then slowly got caught in drugs after which diseases took him.

To understand the difference between Diego and Maradona, you have to know his beginnings.

Maradona's father was a laborer in a factory. And his childhood was spent in great poverty. He and his family used to live in a slum.

Maradona had eight siblings and so his family was not even able to provide for his needs. When Maradona was just three years old, he received a football as a gift. He then fell in love with football and started his journey to become a great player.

When Maradona was just eight years old, he went to give trials for a local club. The coach there was surprised at his ability to play football and refused to believe that he was only eight years old. Looking at his game, it seemed that he was born to play football. But apart from this, Maradona also had many shortcomings.

Maradona had only two dreams. One was to play for his country Argentina and the other to win his country the World Cup and at the age of just 25, he had fulfilled both of his dreams.

In 1991, he was accused of taking drugs for the first time and was banned for 15 months. At the same time, he was also accused of having links with criminal organizations and an investigation started against him in Italy. Before the 1994 World Cup, Maradona once again took drugs and could not play the World Cup.

Despite this, he could not quit his drug addiction and in 1997, he retired from football after being caught taking drugs for the third time.

After retirement, Maradona's health started deteriorating. He drank excessively and his weight increased to 128 kg.

Maradona underwent treatment for his drug addiction in the Cuban capital Havana between 2000 and 2005.

During that time, he became a friend of the then President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, and had also tattooed Castro's face on one of his legs.

Maradona married his childhood friend Claudia in 1984. The marriage lasted until 2004, after which, both of them divorced. 
Maradona and Claudia had two daughters. But apart from this, he had relations with many women with whom he had many children. It is said that Maradona is the father of 10 to 11 children.

But when Maradona died, he had only his daughters beside him.

Diego Maradona was heavily influenced by Indian football. In 2008, he came to Kolkata for the first time.

In his wait, football fans waited outside the airport all night. When Maradona exited the airport, he was surprised to see the craze of fans. At that time, Maradona had said that he did not know that there are such a large number of his fans in India.

Maradona also met former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu during his visit to Kolkata. On his way back, Maradona had promised that he would definitely come to Kolkata again.

In 2017, as promised, Maradona once again came to Kolkata but this was his personal visit. There is also a statue of Maradona in Kolkata.

Maradona taught the world that poverty and other challenges do not come in the way if your dreams are big and you are ready to work hard for it.

There are also other great players in the world like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Pele. All these players had brilliant players in their own teams but in 1986 when Maradona gave his country the World Cup, there was not a single good player in his team. The Argentina team was not in a position to win a single match but Maradona single-handedly won the World Cup.

He was a brilliant team man and nothing mattered to him more than his team's victory. Perhaps this is why Pele, the second greatest football player, has paid tribute to Maradona, saying that he is sure that one day both players will play football in heaven.

Maradona was a great friend and never left his friends. He was also friends with former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and current President Nicolas Maduro and was also a friend of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The world has been in opposition to these leaders but Maradona continued to support them till the last moment and never said anything against them.

But Maradona also had some drawbacks. The biggest drawback was that he could not handle his success. He was the biggest star player in Argentina and he was no less than a god for his club Napoli. But his addiction to drugs and excessive parties made him fall into the trough.

His drawback was that he was notorious for violating the rules, he never paid taxes while playing for an Italian club. He still owes the Italian government more than Rs 300 crore.

And his biggest drawback was that he was not sincere about his relationships. He had links with many women and had many children ut he refused to consider himself as their father. The player who won for his team through honestly on the football field, remained dishonest in real-life relationships.