Diego Armando Maradona Debut

Lore & Background

Born in Naples, Italy, Sinagra – nicknamed Diego Jr. or Dieguito – was the result of an out-of-wedlock affair between Maradona and a young local woman named Cristiana Sinagra. He was brought up by his mother. In 1993, he was legally recognized as Maradona's son by the Court of Naples, acquiring his father's last name as a consequence. Despite that, he did not meet his natural father until 2003, during a golf tournament in Fiuggi.

It was only in 2007 that Maradona publicly recognized Diego Jr. as his son, according to the Italian press. There were rumours that Pope Francis, at that time the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, asked Maradona to recognize Diego Jr. as his son. Maradona's lawyers have denied this allegation. On 10 June 2015, Maradona married Nunzia Pennino in a Roman Catholic church in Naples and received Pope Francis' blessing.

On 25 August 2016, Maradona publicly recognized Diego Jr. as his son in Argentina and, in front of the media in Buenos Aires, declared, 'I love him a lot and he's very like me.'

Reader's Guide

Maradona's first-team debut came in the amateur leagues in 2005, when he joined Cervia, a team in the Eccellenza division of Emilia-Romagna. He joined Internapoli from Eccellenza Campania in January 2006; after being without a team for the first half of the 2005–06 season, he played just two games for the club due to an injury. In 2007, he joined Quarto, another club in the Campanian Eccellenza; Quarto were victorious in the Eccellenza playoffs that season and were promoted to Serie D. He then agreed to stay at Quarto for the 2007–08 Serie D season, then leaving the club by mutual consent on 16 November 2007.

He then signed for Venafro, a Molisan Serie D team, a few weeks later. On 21 January 2008, Maradona scored the first goal with Venafro from 30 metres. At the end of the season Maradona left Venafro and instead signed for a beach soccer team, A.S.D. Mare di Roma. On 2 December 2008, he signed for Boys Caivanese of Eccellenza Campania.

In August 2009 he then signed for Juve Stabia, but on 11 September 2009 he left the team. He then played for Arzanesse. On 29 April 2008, Maradona joined the Italy national beach soccer team for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification. He made his debut in the national team on 12 May against Greece.

Maradona played four matches in the Beach Soccer World Cup's qualification and eventually placed Italy fourth, qualifying for the World Cup. In June 2008, he left Venafro, and he was bought by A.S.D. Mare di Roma. He debuted in Beach Soccer's Serie A on 27 June 2008, scoring a goal against Alma Juventus Fano. He scored six goals in three matches for Mare di Roma, convincing Italy's coach Giancarlo Magrini to include him in the squad for the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Italy eventually placed second in the World Cup, losing 5–3 in the final against Brazil. Maradona scored two goals for Italy in the competition, including one in the final. He scored a dozen goals in the championship, helping his team, Mare di Roma, advance to the final phase of the Italian title competition. Mare di Roma, however, was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

In 2009, Maradona was signed by Napoli Beach Soccer. He scored eight goals, allowing his team to win the Italian beach soccer championship for the first time in its history. In July 2021, he took on his first head coaching job as manager of Eccellenza amateurs Napoli United.