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‘My surname was a handicap, no doubt. I’d get told, ‘If you wanted to avoid all of the attention, just don’t play football’. But I wanted to because I loved it!’: Diego Maradona Jr. achieved great success despite his name proving a hinderance in the sport

February 16, 2025
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Diego Maradona is a name that carries great gravitas wherever it goes in the world, but it’s even more difficult when you’re the son of the Argentine superstar.

Named after his famous father, who ranked at no.3 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest players of all time, Diego Maradona Jr. spent a large amount of his time as a young player in the Napoli academy as well as appearing for Italy at U17 level.

However, he was unable to reach the heights of Serie A during his career, with Serie D the highest level he achieved in 11-aside football. For Maradona Jr., his name certainly posed a problem as people held greater expectations.

Diego Maradona Jr. struggled to live up to expectations – but still acheived great success

Maradona Jr. in Naples (Image credit: Getty Images)

“My surname was a handicap, no doubt,” he tells FourFourTwo. “Sometimes I was told, ‘If you wanted to avoid all this attention, all you had to do was not play football’. But I wanted to because I loved it!”

Maradona Jr. found great success playing beach soccer, though. He scored in the 2008 World Cup Final for Italy against Brazil, then fittingly helped Napoli to their first ever Serie A title on the sand, just as his old man did on grass.

Argentine footballer Diego Armando Maradona and son Diego jr during the peace match at the Olympic stadium. Rome (Italy), October 12th, 2016 (Photo by Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Maradona Jr. playing for Italy in the beach soccer World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I had my share of success too, in my own small way,” Maradona Jr. says. “I made more than 100 appearances for Italy’s beach soccer national team, I played at two World Cups and two European Championships. “It didn’t happen because of my name, or because of my father.

“I’m one of the 10 most prolific Italian beach soccer players ever, and I also played football for Italy at youth level. It’s true, I wasn’t like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, nor did I get to play in Serie A, but that was partly because of my name.”

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Since his dad’s passing, he’s moved into coaching with lower league clubs Napoli United, Pompei and Montecalcio, spending much of this season at fifth-tier Ibarra in Tenerife.

“I love my life as a coach,” he enthuses. “When I played, I thought a manager had to be strict. I’m not like that now. It’s difficult for me to define myself as a coach, but if I had to, I’d say that I’m honest with my boys.

The Italian son of the late football idol Diego Maradona, Diego Armando Maradona Sinagra, known as Diego Junior, poses by a poster of an International Campaign for the Right to Identity, after he was granted the Argentine nationality on March 25, 2021 during a ceremony at the Argentine consulate in Rome. - Diego Junior is joining the International Campaign for the Right to Identity which helps search for the children stolen by the Argentinian dictatorship from their missing parents, and helps Italians who have had links with Argentina between 1974 and 1983 and who have doubts about their identity. The poster reads : "Argentina's Campaign for the Right to Identity : Help us find you. You may be one of the grandsons and granddaughters we are looking for. Don't remain in any doubt about your identity." (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

Maradona Jr. in 2021 (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I hope coaching is my future, but you must be able to reinvent yourself in life. If I have to change path, I will. I don’t know how, but I will. Football has always been my life and I hope it continues to be so. My goal is to grow further.”

Approaching 40, this is a man at peace with himself. “Being Diego Maradona’s son is a source of pride – he made many people happy,” says Diego Jnr. “He was and still is an inspiration. He was a living legend, and in the years I was around him, he taught me a lot.”



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