But the Argentinian β remembered equally for his cheating Hand of God goal in the same match β hid a dark secret. Titled simply Diego Maradona, the film contains never-before-seen footage of the player at the height of his fame during his years with Napoli. It was in the Italian city that he would take drugs for half the week, having left the field after playing on a Sunday afternoon for Napoli. I would come home high on drugs. Somehow he would stay clean for the three days before a big game, training hard and getting himself back into shape.
He did the same for the World Cup in , which Argentina won in a shock result that surprised even pundits in his homeland. Before heading to Mexico he found the willpower to stay off the white powder long enough to evade the mandatory drug testing.
_-_Five_prostitutes_waiting_for_customers.jpg/640px-Interior_of_a_brothel_in_Naples,_Italy_1945_(1)_-_Five_prostitutes_waiting_for_customers.jpg "Teen girls Naples")
Although, according to Napoli FC president Corrado Ferlaino, Maradona might have discovered a way round the checks when he was playing club football. Indeed, Maradona is known to have used a fake plastic penis to pass drug tests, which was later given to a museum in Buenos Aires. For a year-old who grew up in one of the worst slums in Argentine capital Buenos Aires, the lure of riches was hard to resist. He hit the nightclubs of Barcelona, danced with beautiful women and got in trouble with his club for staying up too late.
But it was two years later, after he signed for Naples β where the Camorra crime cartels hold sway β that he got hooked on the drug. He was quickly befriended by the powerful and violent Giuliano clan, posing for photos with family members and receiving a Rolex watch every time he turned up for one of their events. And they made sure he never had a problem getting hold of cocaine.
They practically brought them to me on a tray. By Maradona seemed untouchable. Not only had he won the World Cup with Argentina in , he had also helped Napoli to their first Serie A league title. He was treated like a god in the city, where fans celebrated for weeks and painted saintly images of him on the sides of churches.
