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Bottom of the pile
18
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
32/100Critics
4/100Scholars
Author:
Guillem Balagué
Publisher:
Orion Publishing Co
Date:
April 12, 2022
Diego Armando Maradona was widely acclaimed as a genius. One of the greatest footballers of all time, he was also one of the most controversial. In an international career with Argentina he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals and played in four FIFA World Cups. With his unforgettable 'hand of God' goal and unsurpassed second one in the 1986 quarter-final against England, he captained his nation and led them to victory over West Germany in the final in Mexico. His vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills, and his presence and leadership on the field, often electrified his own team's overall performance. Maradona's club career included dazzling spells in his own country at Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys, and in Europe with Barcelona, Napoli and Sevilla. Yet his life was one of relentless media attention, including tales of drug abuse and constant health issues. Based on in-depth interviews and first-hand stories, Guillem Balagué's biography represents a psychological and sociological approach to the legend.
What The Reviewers Say
Balagué, drawing from several books, documentaries and archival clips from Spanish-language media, covers well-trodden territory.
These stories have been told many times over, yet there’s still no solid English-language account of Maradona’s post-playing days, which makes it all the stranger that Balagué...more or less keeps to the usual stations of the cross.
[There are] a number of intriguing tidbits in Guillem Balagué’s new biography of Maradona.
Balagué’s take on this wonderful footballer but deeply damaged man-child is part Faustian pact, part twisted fairy tale.
