The man who, legend has it, escaped from a early grave when his uncle pulled him from drowning in a cesspit is notorious for his dirty deeds but what cannot be forgotten are his achievements in the 1986 World Cup.
|  |
Mexico '86: Maradona inspired Argentina to their second World Cup
(Photography/Allsport) |
Forget the handball against England, feel the quality of his 50-yard solo goal in the same game and the near repeat performance in the semi-final against Belgium.
If any man can be given the accolade of having won a tournament single-handedly it's this squat, bull-like figure from the barrios.
The Argentina side of 1986 were functional and hard-working but it was Maradona who fired them to the final and then set up two of the goals in their 3-2 win over West Germany in the final.
In 1990, a barely-fit Maradona dived and complained his way to the final where the Germans took their revenge. Few people shared Diego's post-match tears. In fact many rejoiced that such an ugly brute of a team had lost.
Eight years before, in Spain, Maradona, then newly arrived at Barcelona, disgraced himself by being sent off in a Second Phase game with Brazil. Even four years before that the 18-year-old Maradona was a source of great controversy when he was left out of the victorious squad that won on home ground.
USA 1994 was the end for Maradona as a player. Playing in an Argentinian side that had hammered Greece, put the promising Nigerians to the sword and bore all the best signs of being tournament winners, Maradona looked back to his best.
But then, after the Nigeria game, he was picked for drugs-screening and tested positive for banned stimulant ephedrine. He was banned from the rest of the tournament and the team fell apart, going out in the second round to Romania.
It was probably the biggest scandal in World Cup history but when talking of Maradona, one must accept the controversy and scandal alongside the image of a footballing demi-god.
