Diego Maradona was the third of eight children born to Diego Maradona (father) and Dalma Salvadora Franco, better known as Don Diego and Doña Tota. Maradona began his football career at Argentinos Juniors and debuted in the Primera Division on October 20, 1976, just 10 days before turning 16. "The Ten," the nickname he would quickly earn, shone at "El Bicho" until 1980, when he was sold to Boca Juniors. It is the 65th anniversary of the birth of Diego Armando Maradona, one of the best players in history alongside Lionel Messi and Pelé, and one of the most transcendent figures for Argentina. "Pelusa" was born on October 30, 1960, at the Eva Perón Hospital in Lanús. During his time with the team from La Paternal, he played 166 matches, scored 116 goals, and provided 40 assists. Already at Boca, Maradona had a first stage during which he played throughout 1981, a year in which he was key to winning the Metropolitano Tournament. Maradona then made the leap to Barcelona in Spain, where he played during the 1982/83 and 1983/84 seasons, winning three titles. However, the club where he stood out the most was Napoli, where he is idolized as a god thanks to the titles he won in Serie A (1987 and 1990), the Coppa Italia (1987), the Supercoppa Italia (1990), and the UEFA Cup (1989), with a team that had not won anything important in its history before his arrival. Maradona was also a unique player every time he put on the Argentina jersey, guiding the team to glory at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, starring in one of the best individual performances in the history of the competition. He came very close to winning a second world title at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, but the Argentina team, led by Carlos Salvador Bilardo, ended up losing in the final to Germany due to the controversial penalty awarded by Mexican referee Edgardo Codesal. After several doping sanctions, Maradona played his last professional match with Boca's jersey on October 25, 1997, in a 2-1 victory in the Superclásico against River Plate. Maradona died on November 25, 2020, a few days after turning 60, from acute pulmonary edema secondary to a decompensated congestive heart failure and a dilated cardiomyopathy, as detailed in the autopsy.
