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Diego Maradona, an Argentinian hero and a global phenomenon – Aljazeera.com

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The unique gifts of football legend Diego Maradona throughout his career appeared to come from a higher force.

He once infamously referred to a “hand of God” and the unique football talents of Diego Armando Maradona, who died on Wednesday, appeared to come from a higher force.

Born in 1960 and raised in a shantytown on the outskirts of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, Maradona became a national hero and a global football superstar.

Just 1.65 metres tall, stocky and powerful, his dribbling skills and balance made him unstoppable. A prolific creator and scorer of magnificent goals, he is regarded as one of the best footballers – if not the best – ever.

He began playing for his country as a teenager and shone in 1986, when he led a simply good team to football greatness and a World Cup title.

It came after an unforgettable quarter-final against England, where Maradona punching the ball into the net for the first goal – what he was to call “the hand of God”.

Then, he scored a second goal of scarcely believable quality, when he dribbled past almost the whole England team before scoring, widely seen as the greatest individual goal in World Cup history.

In this file photo taken on July 3, 1990, Argentinian forward Diego Maradona, right, celebrates during the World Cup semifinal football match between Italy and Argentina in Naples [File: Daniel Garcia/AFP]

Maradona also thrived in club football, playing for Spanish giants Barcelona in the early 1980s, and then for Napoli in Italy, whom he took to its first-ever Italian titles and where he is still treated as a favourite son.

But off the field, there was turbulence for Maradona. He became addicted to cocaine and was banned from both club and international football for failed drug tests.

He was banned again from football worldwide for 15 months after testing positive for doping at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

In 2004, he spent time in intensive care after a heart attack and his weight fluctuated during his battles with alcohol and drug addiction.

He had two daughters through his marriage with Claudia Villafane that ended in divorce, and a son born outside of the marriage.

In retirement, he was still visible – politically, in entertainment, even on the football field in charity matches.

Argentina’s coach Diego Maradona waves to supporters prior to the World Cup quarter-final match between Argentina and Germany on July 3, 2010, in Cape Town, South Africa [File: Javier Soriano/AP Photo]

In 2010, Maradona also managed his beloved Argentinian national team at the World Cup in South Africa.

Many doubted he could get the team to play as a coherent unit, but Maradona defied the critics until the team was defeated by Germany in the quarter-finals.

He dipped in and out of club management as well. Coaching in the United Arab Emirates was followed by a stint in 2018 taking over at Mexican second division club Dorados de Sinaloa.

It was not long before he returned to Argentina to lead Gimnasia y Esgrima in La Plata in 2019.

In true Maradona style, he stepped down after only two months in charge, only to rejoin again two days later.

His last public appearance was at a game on his 60th birthday on October 30, where he appeared frail and left at half time.

A few days later he was admitted to hospital, initially with anaemia and dehydration, but things quickly escalated and he needed surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain.

The operation went well but less than two weeks later, he died of a heart attack.

Whether he is the greatest ever footballer is open to debate, but his incredible talent and contribution to the game’s history make him a phenomenon.

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

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Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

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TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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