The Photo Diary of God (aka Diego Maradona)

If this blog were called ArgentinianSportsFans.com, the “aka” part of the title would not be necessary. That is because soccer legend Diego Maradona is referred to by many in his native country as “D10S”, which is a combination of his jersey number (10) and the Spanish word for God (“dios”).

Here in America we know Maradona for what he famously did in the World Cup – primarily the “Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century” in the 1986 World Cup – and for what he has infamously done off the pitch, including gaining weight, developing drug and alcohol addictions, and essentially becoming Argentina’s slightly-less-erratic version of Mike Tyson.

Although Diego Maradona’s life has always been a whirling dervish of contradictions, one thing is absolutely certain: he his hilariously photogenic.

So, as we enjoy doing here at MSF, let’s take a quick photo jaunt through the life and career of Argentina’s own Diego Maradona.

[Note: For best results, view with PicLens (link below). You may need to pause it so you can read the captions. Otherwise, click on the first picture (top, left) below to view the pictures and captions using the in-post image browser.]

[View with PicLens]

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And, just in case anyone has not seen the videos of Maradona’s two most famous goals, I have embedded them below.

The most amazing aspect about “The Hand of God” and “The Goal of the Century” – two of the most famous and well known moments in soccer history – is that they happened within four minutes of eachother during the second half of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarterfinal matchup with England, which Argentina won 2-1 en route to winning 1986 World Cup.

Needless to say, the English have always been a little bit salty about the this first one, seeing as how the final result was decided by just one goal.

The Hand of God Goal by Diego Maradona

And just in case you were wondering whether Maradona was trying to hide the fact it was indeed a handball, here you go:

I wasn’t old enough then to know what the outcry was like about that goal, but I’ve seen enough over the past two weeks to know that it would be huge if that happened today, especially if it happened against the U.S. where we actually appreciate instant replay.

Anyway, onto a goal that no one can argue with because, well, it’s simply sublime.

The Goal of the Century by Diego Maradona

Maradona’s current pupil on the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi, renowned as the best soccer play playing today, had a similarly incredible goal for Barcelona.

Watch and compare:

Ultimately, when it comes to Diego Maradona, I think this quote pretty much sums his legend up best and puts it into terms that Americans can understand:

To understand the gargantuan shadow Maradona casts over his soccer-mad homeland, one has to conjure up the athleticism of Michael Jordan, the power of Babe Ruth — and the human fallibility of Mike Tyson. Lump them together in a single barrel-chested man with shaggy black hair and you have El Diego, idol to the millions who call him D10S, a mashup of his playing number and the Spanish word for God.

– The Houston Chronicle (via Wikipedia)

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