Maradona 'kicking cocaine'

2005-01-21 14:28

Stockholm - Diego Maradona said he was recovering from his drug addiction and heart problems, and acknowledged that his infamous "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup was his own, during a TV interview broadcast on Thursday.

Maradona, whose addiction to cocaine, poor health and frequent scuffles with journalists have created as many headlines as his wizardry on the field did in the 1980s and 1990s, gave his first TV interview in almost three years to Alexandra Pascalidou, a Swedish journalist of Greek heritage, during his visit to Greece this week.

"I'm a complete human being, with good sides and bad sides," the 44-year-old Argentine soccer great said of his addiction. "I'm not going to blame anybody else, or say that I would change my life if I could."

Maradona, who was interviewed in Spanish, said he hoped to complete his drug rehabilitation in Cuba, where he spent most of 2004, and praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, with whom he said he had a "good friendship."

"He's the greatest of them all," Maradona said of Castro. "Everyone wants to be his equal, but no one can measure up to him."

However, Maradona said he was not a communist, adding he's "unpolitical."

Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title and 1990 final, and was chosen beside Pele as the greatest players in soccer history by Fifa. His legend was enhanced at the 1986 tournament in Mexico, where he scored both goals in Argentina's 2-1 victory over England, including one he tipped into the net with his hand.

Replays clearly showed the foul but Maradona said afterward it was "La Mano de Dios," or "Hand of God" that scored the goal. But on Thursday he admitted it was his.

"It would be very arrogant of me to say it was God's hand," he said. "God helped us, but I punched it."

Speaking in his hotel room, wearing a blue sweater and blue shorts, Maradona looked considerably overweight, but did not show signs of the heart and lung problems that kept him in an Argentine hospital for several weeks during April and May 2004. His agent, Eric Manasse, said Maradona was on a strict diet, and spent an hour swimming and exercising daily.

"Everybody calls him fat and lazy," Manasse said. "But he eats very strictly."

Maradona also addressed his icon status in his native country, downplaying his title as the "God of soccer."

"There is only one God," Maradona said, not referring to himself. "But since Pele was the king of soccer, no one wanted to call me that. Brazil has the king of soccer, but Argentina has its God."

- AP