A SUMMARY OF MARADONA's LIFE

Oct.30, 1960: Diego Armando Maradona was born in Lanús, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He is the fifth of the eight children of Diego Maradona and Dalma Salvadora Franco.

Dec.5, 1970: Starts playing with the Cebollitas, the youth team of Argentinos Juniors

Oct.20, 1976: Plays his first match in the Argentine top division with Argentinos Juniors against Talleres de Córdoba, ten days before his 16th birthday, replacing Giacobetti at the beginning of the second half and wearing the shirt number 16.

Nov.14, 1976: Scores his first goal against Lucangioli, goalkeeper of San Lorenzo de Mar del Plata.

Feb.27, 1977: Plays his first match with the Argentina national team against Hungary.

May 1978: Cesar Menotti, the coach of Argentina, does not include him in the list of the 22 players for the world cup saying that Diego is too young to handle pressures.

Jun.2, 1979: Scores his first goal with Argentina, in Glasgow against Scotland

Sep.7, 1979: Leads Argentina to win the youth world cup in Japan scoring a goal on free kick as well in the final won 3-1 against USSR.

Feb.19, 1981: Joins Boca Juniors.

Feb.22, 1981: Makes his debut with Boca winning 4-1 against Talleres de Córdoba and scoring two goals.

Aug.16, 1981: Wins the Argentine championship with Boca Juniors.

Jun.4, 1982: Joins Barcelona .

Sep.24, 1983: Suffers the worst injury of his career when Andoni Goicoechea, defender of Athletic Bilbao, breaks his left ankle and the ligament.

Jun.30, 1984: Joins Napoli

Jul.5, 1984: Introduction to the Napoli fans -photo!- with an unforgettable party

Jun.22-29, 1986: Scores the famous goal with the "Hand of God" and then scores a magnificent second goal winning 2-1 against England in the quarter-finals of the world cup in Mexico. Leads Argentina to the triumph defeating West Germany 3-2 in the final.

May 10, 1987: Leads Napoli to win the first Scudetto of the history of the club. (photo of the team)

May 17, 1989: Wins the UEFA Cup with Napoli, that gets the first victory ever in an international competition.

Aug.-Sep. 1989:Spends two months in Argentina, failing to come back before the start of the tournament.

Apr.29, 1990: Wins the second Scudetto with Napoli.

Jul.8, 1990: Leads Argentina to the final of the world cup in Rome and loses 1-0 against West Germany with a very discussed penalty.

Mar.17, 1991: Found positive in a dope test, is banned from football for 15 months.

1992: Refuses to come back to Napoli after the ban and asks a transfer. Joins Sevilla.

Oct.4, 1992: Makes his debut with Sevilla, losing 2-1 against Athletic Bilbao.

Oct.10, 1993: Leaves Sevilla and joins Newell's Old Boys in Argentina. Loses the first match 3-1 against Independiente.

Oct.31, 1993: Comes back to the national team, playing in Sydney against Australia in the playoffs to qualify for the USA 1994 world cup. Draws 1-1 and the Argentine goal is due to a great play by Diego.

Nov.17, 1993: Argentina, captained by Maradona, wins 1-0 against Australia and qualifies for the world cup.

Dec.2, 1993: Plays his last match with Newell's against Huracán.

Jun. 1994: Plays two matches in the world cup and scores a great goal against Greece, before receiving a ban for using ephedrine, substance not allowed by FIFA.

Oct.3, 1994: First time as a coach: with Deportivo Mandiyú of Corrientes. Two months later he resigns.

May6, 1995: Second time as a coach: now with Racing. Four months later he resigns.

Oct.7, 1995: Comes back to play for Boca Juniors in the match Boca-Colón 1-0. The fans of Boca prepare for him a special party with fireworks and big celebrations in the stadium of the "Bombonera".

1996: Keeps playing with Boca Juniors.

Aug.24, 1997: Starts the new season with Boca in great shape, scoring a penalty in the match won 4-2 against Argentinos Juniors. He is found positive again, though it may have been a plot.

Oct.25, 1997: Plays his last match with Boca, winning 1-2 away against River Plate.

Oct.30, 1997: Decides to retire from football on the day of his 37th birthday.

1998: Does not play the world cup, but travels to France to comment the match for an Argentine tv channel.

Nov. 1998: Comes back to Italy after more than 7 years.

1999: Agrees to a movie about his life and takes part in the Italian movie "Tifosi" (photo).

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