Diego Sinagra

Diego Armando Maradona Sinagra (born 20 September 1986) is an Italian footballer and beach soccer player, who plays for A.S.D San Giorgio in Italy. He is the son of Argentine national footballer Diego Maradona.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Maradona and the second or maternal family name is Sinagra.
Diego Sinagra
Personal information
Full name Diego Armando Maradona Sinagra
Date of birth (1986-09-20) 20 September 1986
Place of birth Naples, Italy
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Midfielder
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)
2009–2012 Quarto 2 (0)
2012– A.S.D San Giorgio 1926 7 (5)
National team
2001 Italy Under 17s 1 (0)
2008– Italy Beach Soccer 11 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

Born in Naples, Italy, Diego Armando Maradona Sinagra (Diego Jr. or Dieguito) was the result of an affair between Maradona and a young local woman named Cristiana Sinagra. He was brought up by his mother. He has a half-brother named Diego Fernando Maradona Ojeda, born to his father in 2013.

Maradona Sinagra had a passion for football and started playing at a young age showing promise by emulating the skills of his father. At eleven years old he was a part of the Napoli youth squad. Diego Junior represented the Italian national team at under-17 age level. In 2004, the young Maradona Sinagra joined the youth squad of Genoa for a season.

An Italian court recognized Maradona's paternity in 1993, but Maradona Sinagra met his father for the first time in 2003, during a golf tournament in Fiuggi.[1] Only in 2007, Maradona recognized Maradona Sinagra, the child born from his relationship with Cristiana Sinagra.[2]

There were rumours that Pope Francis, at that time the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, asked Maradona to recognize Maradona Sinagra as his son.[3] Maradona's lawyers have denied this allegation.[4]

On 10 June 2015, Maradona Sinagra married Nunzia Pennino in a Roman Catholic church in Napoli and received Pope Francis' blessing.[5][6][7]

On 25 August 2016, Maradona publicly recognised Maradona Sinagra as his son and declared “I love him a lot and he’s very like me.” in front of the media in Buenos Aires.[8] [9][10][11]

Playing in Eccellenza and in Serie D

His start in first team football came in the amateur leagues during 2005 when he joined Cervia, a team of the Eccellenza division of Emilia-Romagna, which was the subject of a national football reality show, named Campioni - Il sogno.[12]

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;[13] 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, but left the club by mutual consent on 16 November 2007 following a head coach replacement which caused him concerns about his role in the team.[14] He then signed for Venafro, a Molisan Serie D team, a few weeks later.[15] On 21 January 2008, Sinagra scored the first goal with Venafro from 30 metres.[16] At the end of the season Sinagra left Venafro and he was bought by a beach soccer team, A.S.D. Mare di Roma.

On 2 December 2008, he signed for F.C America – (Eccellenza Campania).[17] In August 2009 he then signed for Juve Stabia, but on 11 September 2009 he left the team.[18] He then played for U.S. Arzanese.[19]

European Beach Soccer

On 29 April 2008, Maradona Sinagra 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.[20] On 12 May, Sinagra made his debut in the national team in the match against Greece.[21] Maradona Sinagra played four matches in the Beach Soccer World Cup's qualification and eventually placed Italy fourth, qualifying to 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 made his debut in Beach Soccer's Serie A on 27 June 2008 in the 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 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 Sinagra scored two goals for Italy in the competition (one in the final). In the championship Maradona Sinagra scored a dozen goals allowing his team, Mare di Roma, to advance to the final phase for the Italian title. Mare di Roma was however eliminated in the quarterfinals.

In 2009, Maradona Sinagra was bought by Napoli Beach Soccer. Maradona Sinagra scored eight goals, allowing his team to win the Italian beach soccer championship for the first time in its history.

Honours
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References
  1. "La Repubblica/cronaca: Le lacrime del campione Maradona incontra il figlio". www.repubblica.it.
  2. Carli, Claudio De. "«Caro Diego jr scusami» Maradona chiude la causa con una lettera al figlio". ilGiornale.it.
  3. "El muy personal pedido del papa Francisco a Diego Maradona". www.lanacion.com.ar. 24 April 2015.
  4. "Desmienten que el Papa le haya pedido a Diego por Junior". Diario Popular.
  5. "Imágenes Inédita: Se casó Diego Maradona Jr - El Intransigente". www.elintransigente.com.
  6. "Las fotos del casamiento del hijo no reconocido de Maradona - El Intransigente". www.elintransigente.com.
  7. "¡Mi gran casamiento italiano! Diego Maradona Jr. contrajo matrimonio en Nápoles: las fotos de la boda". Ciudad Magazine. 10 June 2015.
  8. Couzens, Gerard (26 August 2016). "'I love him': Diego Maradona accepts love affair child as his son". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. "La confesión que faltaba: habló la madre de Diego Jr". Big Bang! News.
  10. "Maradona recognizes long denied son - Inquirer Sports". sports.inquirer.net.
  11. Flanagan, Aaron (26 August 2016). "Diego Maradona reunited with son for first time in 13 years". mirror.
  12. "Che fine ha fatto? 'Campioni, il sogno' - 1" (in Italian). www.calciomercato.com. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  13. "Diego Armando Maradona jr va in Eccellenza campana - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
  14. "Maradona jr lascia il Quarto" (in Italian). ReSport.it. 2007-11-16. Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  15. "Maradona jr acquistato dal Venafro, serie D" (in Italian). Corriere del Mezzogiorno. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  16. "Tgcom - Diego Jr, gol e marchio di fabbrica". www.tgcom24.mediaset.it.
  17. "Diego Armando Maradona jr passa alla Boys Caivanese" (in Italian). interno18.it. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  18. "Juve Stabia, Maradona Jr lascia il gruppo - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
  19. "Ufficiale: Arzanese preso Diego Armando Maradona Jr" (in Italian). notiziariocalcio.com. 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2008-05-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-05-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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