“Pibe de Oro” Celebrates 50th Birthday

Former Argentine soccer star Diego Armando Maradona celebrates his 50th birthday this Saturday. Maradona was born on October 30^th, 1960 in Villa Fiorito—south of Buenos Aires—. After the World Cup in Mexico (1986) and runner-up in Italy (1990), he became famous around the globe.

Maradona played for several teams throughout his career as a professional soccer player, including: Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona (Spain), Naples (Italy), Sevilla (Spain) and briefly in Newell’s before returning to the team where he started: Boca, he retired in 1997.

On July 3^rd, Maradona stopped being Argentina’s Technical Director—a position he held since October 2008— after the Argentina was defeated by Germany in the South Africa World Cup quarter-finals (4-0).

“It’s the saddest birthday of my life. I imagined the selection diver. Having run out of chances hurts me a lot … The best gift would have been the team,” confessed Maradona during an interview Saturday the sports daily Olé.

“I know I will return to the selection one day, this is my destiny. I’m waiting,” he said on Sky Sports News on Friday.