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Maradona almost single-handedly won the World Cup in 1986. Allsport UK/Allsport |
Soccer's flawed genius, Maradona was a combustible mix of the heroic and the tragic who first shone and was later shamed on the World Cup stage.
No other player has dominated a tournament to the extent that Maradona did in Mexico in 1986. The little Argentine single-handedly won the World Cup, literally against England in the quarterfinals when he scored the notorious "Hand of God" goal, punching the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
Two minutes later he dribbled through virtually the entire England team to score what is generally considered to be the greatest individual goal ever.
Maradona's performance against Belgium in the semifinals was no less emphatic and two more outstanding individual efforts sealed a comfortable 2-0 win.
In the final, West Germany's obsession with Maradona opened up space for his teammates and Argentina took a two-goal lead. But when the West Germans hit back from two corner kicks the match seemed to be heading for extra time.
With six minutes left, Maradona made his most telling contribution of the game, opening up the West German defense with a perfect pass for Jorge Burruchaga to fire the winner.
If Maradona experienced the highest of World Cup highs in 1986, there were also plenty of lows.
As a 17-year-old, Maradona was painfully left out of the 1978 squad that won on home soil, and when he finally made his tournament debut in Spain four years later he was sent off in disgrace for a wild lunge during Argentina's defeat by Brazil in the second round.
In 1990, Argentina returned to the final but few could feel sympathy for the tearful Maradona after his side's 1-0 defeat by West Germany. The attacking flair of 1986 had been replaced by a brutal cynicism and Maradona, slowed by injury, couldn't recapture the magic of Mexico.
The following year, Maradona tested positive for cocaine and his playing career never recovered after a 15-month ban.
Maradona's manic celebrations after scoring against Greece in Argentina's opening game of the 1994 finals proved to be his World Cup epitaph. After failing another dope test, this time for ephedrine, he was humiliatingly kicked out of the tournament.
He then retired from playing to take up the starring role in the ongoing soap opera that his life had become.
