Diego Maradona's records in football

Diego Maradona – The Game’s Greatest?

If one were to have a look at Diego Maradona’s records, it would paint an apt potrait of the master that he was on the football pitch. Diego Armando Maradona Franco is arguably one of the greatest footballers to grace the game. The former Argentina skipper led the ‘La Albiceleste’ to their second World Cup title at Mexico in 1986, and en route went on to establish himself as a hero in Argentina’s footballing folklore. Maradona’s career had its umpteen share of ups and downs, and the Argentine frequently courted controversies. But in his peak, ripping apart the opposition’s defence and breaking footballing records with relative ease, El Diego was football’s high lord.

Born in Buenos Aires on October 30, 1961, Maradona grew up in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the outskirts of the capital. The son of a bricklayer, Maradona grew up in poverty along with his seven siblings, but he didn’t let poverty act as a deterrent to success. He was introduced to football at the age of nine by his cousin Beto Zarate, and Diego soon fell in love with the beautiful game.

Maradona showed promise at an early age, and at the age of 10 was selected for the Cebollitas or Little Onions - the youth team of Argentinos Juniors. Climbing through their youth ranks, Maradona in 1972 led the side to the junior championship title. Impressed with his performance, Cebollitas not only promoted him to the senior team but also paid him a high compliment. He was handed the number 10 jersey – also worn by Brazil legend Pele. Little did Diego know, that he would go on to challenge the Brazilian for the crown of ‘The World’s Best Footballer’.

Here are listed few of the many records that the short, stocky striker from Buenos Aires went on to achieve:

- Maradona was part of the Argentina youth squad that won the 1979 Youth World Cup in Japan.

- He featured in four World Cups (1982, 86, 90, 94) and captained Argentina in 16 World Cup games, the most number of matches played as captain in a World Cup.

- In the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final game against England, he scored a goal using his hand. Dubbed as the ‘Hand of God’, the controversial goal earned the Argentine notoriety and irked the England fans. But Maradona silenced his critics with his second goal of the match at Mexico City. He dribbled past 5 England players and finally goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score the goal that ensured Argentina a 2-1 win, and was voted ‘Goal of the Century’ in 2002 by voters on FIFA.com.

- Maradona was awarded the Golden Ball at the 1986 World Cup as he single-handedly won Argentina the title, with his fantatstic outing of 5 goals and 5 assists.

- He holds the record for suffering the most number of fouls in a World Cup – 53, during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. A terror for the opposition’s defence, he was constantly marked by defenders and thus also holds the record for the most number of fouls sufferered in a match (23) against Italy at the 1982 World Cup.

- In his peak Maradona was coveted by several clubs and thus its of no suprise that he was one of football’s first million-dollar boy. He set the record for the highest transfer fee when he joined Spanish giants Barcelona from Boca Juniors in 1982 for 5 million Pounds. The Argentine then went on to become the only player to break the transfer record twice, when he shifted to Napoli in 1984 for another record 6.9 million Pounds.

- He was jointly crowned ‘FIFA Player of the Century’ along with Brazil legend Pele in 2000. Maradona won the internet poll that fans voted for, while Pele won the award based on FIFA coaches and officials.

- With 34 goals in 91 national outings, Maradona is ranked 4th amongst the all-time top-scorers for the Argentina team. The list, with 56 goals, is led by former Roma star Gabriel Batistuta.

- In a career streching from 1977 to 1994, Maradona earned 91 Argentina caps, the 6th highest. Inter Milan legend Javier Zanetti leads the list with 145 caps.