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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

End of an Era - Maradona




One of colleagues told me that if i give a link to the world cup then he cant comment on it.
So here goes, my feeble attempt to revist some of the pages of this great sport.
Disclaimer: Am a amateur when it comes to soccer, but this year am more than engrossed in this sport. So any errors in judgement or events, feel free to point them out.

When i think of soccer, the first personality that crosses my mind (and many more) is none other than Diego Armando Maradona. He is a legend in this sport. Google has many videos about Maradona Vs Ronaldinho - a separate post on that.

Born on 30 October 1960 in Villa Fiorito, Argentina, Maradona went on to become one of the most famous personalities in the football arena.

Maradona is nothing short of divine in the land of Argentina.
Maradona made the ball an early friend and it was his constant companion in the games of street football that taught him how to compete with older and bigger opponents.
Maradona's physique, or lack of it, almost cost him his career.

Balance was the key - which was ironic given his struggle to find equilibrium elsewhere in life.He shot at journalists with an air rifle, insulted the pope on TV and always roused the extreme of emotions. It was impossible to stop 'El Grande' as he slalomed towards goal; and just as unerring was his accuracy from set pieces.

The last chapter in Diego's FIFA World Cup history was also the darkest. It unfolded at USA 94 where he helped Argentina triumph over Greece and Nigeria. Then, however, he failed a drugs test - showing signs of the banned stimulant ephedrine - and was banished from the competition. The team followed soon after.

Maradona was banned in 1991 after testing positive for Cocaine whileplaying for Napoli. When he returned to play in Argentina the Championship wasplayed over two league stages. He was banned a second time after testing positivefor performance enhancing drugs during the 1994 World Cup.

Its amazing how one person who shot to fame comes tumbling down faster.
Neverthless, anybody who watches him play would accept that this man was a born footballer.
His agility in passing the ball and sledging goals is quite unmatched.
The crowd erupts into a frenzied applause everytime his foot touches the ball. Such is the thunder, we hear long after he has stopped playing.

Maradona - A legend !!!

5 comments:

Vasudev Udhatya said...

Maradona is truly a legend.. ask the German players of the Italia 1990 world cup finals..they'll tell you.Well that was the match which inspired me to talk up football :-).Every time Maradona used to have the ball,he would have 5 german players tackling him. Though Argentina would have lost the match but Maradona's ball skills would always be remembered and cherished by the football fraternity.

WhO ElsE said...

Hand of God
------------

Maradona's rise to fame was in the 1986 WC in Mexico, when he was acknowledged as a prolific scorer. In Argentina's quarter final match against England, Maradona exploited the soccer loop holes to score the most talked about goal in football history. When the ball went high in the air inside the English Penalty box, the English Goalkeeper Peter Shilton was the clear favourite to grab it, with his height advantage over the stocky Maradona. But the champion had other ideas. In an act of instinct, he jumped high in the air and punched the ball in with his left fist, and many say he cunningly looked at the referee with the corner of his eye, while the English players protested in vain. To make matters worse, Maradona later said that the goal was scored "a little bit by the Hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona".

catch 22 said...

You a soccer buff, never knew that. :). Maradona might be a legend but that one goal against England would always be thorn in my eye.

Meera said...

@vasu: It must have been exciting this man play ..
@sai: u shd have read the next post ;)
@catch22: Am not a buff.. but am in the process.. and ur right abt the thorn.

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