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Diego Maradona Jr.

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In this Italian name, the surname is Sinagra.
Diego Maradona Jr.
Maradona Jr. in 2008.
Personal information
Full name Diego Armando Maradona Jr.
Birth name Diego Armando Sinagra[1]
Date of birth (1986-09-20) 20 September 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Naples, Italy
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward
Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Pompei (head coach)
Youth career
1997–2004 Napoli
2004–2005 Genoa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 Cervia 1920 11 (0)
2006–2007 Puteolana 1902 2 (0)
2007 Quarto 9 (2)
2007–2008 Venafro 14 (2)
2008 Mare di Roma 8 (14)
2008 Boys Caivanese 1 (0)
2009 Napoli Beach Soccer 8 (6)
2009–2011 Quarto 2 (0)
2011 Arzanese 11 (1)
2011–2012 San Sebastiano 8 (4)
2012–2015 San Giorgio 46 (21)
2015 Savoia 3 (0)
2017–2018 Afro Napoli United 8 (0)
2018–2020 Villa Literno 23 (6)
International career
2001 Italy U17 1 (0)
2008–2011 Italy beach soccer 15 (12)
Managerial career
2021–2023 Napoli United
2023– Pompei
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Diego Armando Maradona Jr. (born Diego Armando Sinagra; September 20, 1986) is an Argentine-Italian football coach, former player, and professional beach soccer player. He is the son of Cristiana Sinagra and Argentine national footballer Diego Maradona.

Biography

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. His paternal grandfather Diego Maradona Senior "Chitoro" (1927–2015), who worked at a chemicals factory, was of Indigenous Guaraní and Spanish descent, and his paternal grandmother Dalma Salvadora Franco, "Doña Tota" (1930–2011), had Italian and Croatian ancestry.[2] In 1993, he was legally recognized as Maradona's son by the Court of Naples, acquiring his father's last name as a consequence.[1] Despite that, he did not meet his natural father until 2003, during a golf tournament in Fiuggi.[3] It was only in 2007 that Maradona publicly recognised Diego Jr. as his son according to the Italian press.[4]

There were rumours that Pope Francis, at that time the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, asked Maradona to recognize Diego Jr. as his son.[5] Maradona's lawyers have denied this allegation.[6]

Maradona had a passion for football and started playing at a young age, showing promise by emulating his father's skills. At 11 he was a part of the Napoli youth squad. He represented Italy at under-17 level. In 2004, the young Maradona joined the youth squad of Genoa for a season.

On 10 June 2015, Maradona married Nunzia Pennino in a Roman Catholic church in Naples and received Pope Francis' blessing.[7][8][9]

On 25 August 2016, Maradona publicly recognised Diego Jr. as his son in Argentina and declared in front of the media in Buenos Aires "I love him a lot and he’s very like me."[10] [11][12][13]

Playing in Eccellenza and Serie D

Maradona's start in first-team football came in the amateur leagues in 2005 when he joined Cervia, a team in the Eccellenza division of Emilia-Romagna, which was the subject of a national football reality show, named Campioni - Il sogno (Champions - The Dream).[14]

He joined Internapoli from Eccellenza Campania in January 2006; after having been without a team for the first half of the 2005–06 season, he only played two games for the club as he suffered an injury which kept him sidelined. In 2007, he joined Quarto, another club in the Campanian Eccellenza;[15] 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 following a head coach replacement which caused him concerns about his role in the team.[16] He then signed for Venafro, a Molisan Serie D team, a few weeks later.[17] On 21 January 2008, Maradona scored the first goal with Venafro from 30 metres.[18] 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.[19] In August 2009 he then signed for Juve Stabia, but on 11 September 2009 he left the team.[20] He then played for Arzanesse.[21]

European Beach Soccer

On 29 April 2008, Maradona joined the Italy national beach soccer team for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification which was held from 11 to 18 May in Spain.[22] On 12 May, he made his debut in the national team in the match against Greece.[23] 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 beach soccer team, A.S.D. Mare di Roma. He debuted in Beach Soccer's Serie A on 27 June 2008 in a match against Alma Juventus Fano, scoring a goal. 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, allowing his team, Mare di Roma, to advance to the final phase of competition for the Italian title. Mare di Roma was however 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.

Coaching career

In July 2021, he took on his first head coaching job as manager of Eccellenza amateurs Napoli United, a former team of his as a player (as Afro Napoli United).[24][25] He resigned from his job on 14 March 2023, as a form of protest following the club's failure to pay on players' wages.[26][27]

In June 2023, he was appointed new head coach of Eccellenza Campania club Pompei.[28]

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b "La storia di Diego Armando Maradona Jr, il primo figlio del Pibe de Oro nato dalla relazione con Cristiana Sinagra" (in Italian). Il Riformista. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. ^ Welch, Julie (25 November 2020). "Diego Maradona obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. ^ "La Repubblica/cronaca: Le lacrime del campione Maradona incontra il figlio". www.repubblica.it.
  4. ^ Carli, Claudio De. ""Caro Diego jr scusami" Maradona chiude la causa con una lettera al figlio". ilGiornale.it.
  5. ^ "El muy personal pedido del papa Francisco a Diego Maradona". www.lanacion.com.ar. 24 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Desmienten que el Papa le haya pedido a Diego por Junior". Diario Popular.
  7. ^ "Imágenes Inédita: Se casó Diego Maradona Jr - El Intransigente". www.elintransigente.com.
  8. ^ "Las fotos del casamiento del hijo no reconocido de Maradona - El Intransigente". www.elintransigente.com.
  9. ^ "¡Mi gran casamiento italiano! Diego Maradona Jr. contrajo matrimonio en Nápoles: las fotos de la boda". Ciudad Magazine. 10 June 2015.
  10. ^ Couzens, Gerard (26 August 2016). "'I love him': Diego Maradona accepts love affair child as his son". The Daily Telegraph.
  11. ^ "La confesión que faltaba: habló la madre de Diego Jr". Big Bang! News.
  12. ^ "Maradona recognizes long denied son - Inquirer Sports". sports.inquirer.net.
  13. ^ Flanagan, Aaron (26 August 2016). "Diego Maradona reunited with son for first time in 13 years". mirror.
  14. ^ "Che fine ha fatto? 'Campioni, il sogno' - 1" (in Italian). www.calciomercato.com. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Diego Armando Maradona jr va in Eccellenza campana - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
  16. ^ "Maradona jr lascia il Quarto" (in Italian). ReSport.it. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
  17. ^ "Maradona jr acquistato dal Venafro, serie D" (in Italian). Corriere del Mezzogiorno. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  18. ^ "Tgcom - Diego Jr, gol e marchio di fabbrica". www.tgcom24.mediaset.it.
  19. ^ "Diego Armando Maradona jr passa alla Boys Caivanese" (in Italian). interno18.it. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  20. ^ "Juve Stabia, Maradona Jr lascia il gruppo". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
  21. ^ "Ufficiale: Arzanese preso Diego Armando Maradona Jr" (in Italian). notiziariocalcio.com. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  22. ^ "Il figlio di Diego in campo per le qual". Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  23. ^ "Qualificazioni Mondiali: l'Italia supera la Grecia ai rigori". Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  24. ^ "Maradona Jr è il nuovo allenatore del Napoli United" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Diego Maradona júnior, nuevo entrenador del Napoli United" (in Spanish). Sport. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  26. ^ "Diego Maradona Jr lascia il Napoli United, le dimissioni dell'allenatore figlio del Pibe de Oro" (in Italian). Il Riformista. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  27. ^ "Maradona jr e l'addio al Napoli United: "Integrazione? Giocatori da mesi senza soldi, cibo e acqua calda"" (in Italian). Il Riformista. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  28. ^ "Pompei, Maradona Jr è il nuovo allenatore: "Abbiamo voglia di vincere"" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 10 June 2023.
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