When you attend language school in Buenos Aires, you can’t help but notice that Argentines are crazy about football. Famous football players’ names come up often in daily conversation, and it seems everyone is watching the games religiously. During your Spanish course in Argentina, you are sure to hear about the antics and accomplishments of beloved star Diego Maradona.
Diego Armando Maradona is one of the most famous football players in Argentina’s history. In fact, most people who are interested in sports are familiar with his name, as he is considered to be the greatest player that has ever lived. In addition to being a powerful player with amazing athleticism, Maradona was also an excellent strategist and solid team player. An online vote and jury recently honored Maradona with a FIFA Player of the Century Award. While Pele got 18.53% of the votes, Maradona completely beat him with a 53.6% vote.
Maradona made a lot of money in his career. On two different occasions, his contract fees set world records because they were so high. When he transferred to Napoli, he was given £6.9m. Maradona played in four different FIFA World Cup tournaments, and he made news headlines each time. For example, in 1986 he was awarded the Golden Ball award and recognized as the best player after the victory over West Germany. In a competition against England he scored what was called “The Goal of the Century.” People believe that this was the most impressive goal that was ever made.
While Maradona did many impressive things in his career, he is controversial for a variety of reasons. An extremely outspoken man, Maradona often butted heads with journalists and executives, who disapproved of his views. At one point, he even fired a compressed air rifle at journalists. Maradona was also known for his drug problems. He was actually suspended for 15 months after he tested positive for cocaine use in 1991. In 1994, drugs were an issue again, as he got sent home from the 1994 World Cup because he was using ephedrine.
Many people learned more about Maradona when his autobiography Yo Soy El Diego was published in 2000. Interestingly enough, he donated the Cuban book royalties to “The Cuban People and Fidel.” He had formed a lasting friendship in Fidel Castro over the years. If you are interested in learning more about Maradona before you take your Spanish course in Argentina, you can also watch the documentary “Maradona” made by the Serbian documentary filmmaker Emir Kusturica.
Recently, in March 2010, The Times in the UK rated Maradona #1 in their list of “The 10 Greatest World Cup players of all time.” He also recently made the news because he owes the Italian government 37 million Euros. As you will likely see when you attend Spanish language school in Buenos Aires, although he is no longer playing football, Maradona is still idealized in Argentina due to his impressive feats over the years.