Diego Maradona
1960 – 2020 · Argentina
Known for: El Diez, the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century, four minutes apart
“When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.”
Biography
From the dirt pitches of Villa Fiorito to the roar of the Azteca: Diego Armando Maradona played football the way people dream it, low centre of gravity, impossible balance, the ball stitched to his left foot. In one 1986 quarter-final he scored the most infamous goal in history and, four minutes later, the greatest one ever, slaloming past half of England.
He dragged unfashionable Napoli to two Serie A titles and became a saint in a city that still paints his face on its walls. His life off the pitch was a storm, excess, addiction, redemption, always in public. When he died, Argentina declared three days of mourning. In Buenos Aires they say it best: "It doesn't matter what Diego did with his life. It matters what he did with ours."