Convalescing Maradona plays golf while father is taken to hospital

May 1, 2004 - Photographers try to catch Diego Maradona at a country house in Buenos Aires. Maradona hit some golf balls as he continued his recovery from severe heart and lung problems which brought him close to death.

Photographers try to catch Diego Maradona at a country house in Buenos Aires. Maradona hit some golf balls as he continued his recovery from severe heart and lung problems which brought him close to death.

Diego Maradona hit some golf balls as he continued his recovery from severe heart and lung problems which brought him close to death.

The Argentine football legend, who checked out of hospital without the full support of his ex-wife Claudia Villafane and medical staff, left the Suizo-Argentina hospital on Thursday, 12 days after entering intensive care.

Diego hit some balls Saturday in the grounds of his luxurious residence in the rural area of General Rodriguez, about 50km north west of the Argentine capital.

The 43-year-old 1986 World Cup winning captain has revealed he will be going to Cuba at the end of next week and will spend the summer in Italy where he has work contracts.

Meanwhile, his 76-year-old father, also called Diego Maradona, was admitted to an intensive care unit of a private clinic with pneumonia.

Diego junior's roller-coaster career, which included 34 goals in 91 matches for Argentina, began in 1975 and ended in 1997. He also played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Seville and Newell's Old Boys.

He led Argentina to their second World Cup in 1986 after winning a controversial quarter-final against England, when he scored his "Hand of God" goal by fisting the ball over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton's outstretched hands.

Maradona led Argentina to the final of the 1990 World Cup in Italy where he needed pain-killing injections to play with a serious ankle injury. West Germany gained revenge for their 1986 defeat by taking the trophy.

In 1991, Maradona tested positive for cocaine and was banned for 15 months.

He played in his fourth World Cup in the United States in 1994 after battling health and weight problems but he tested positive for a cocktail of drugs and was thrown out of the tournament.

In recent years Maradona sought treatment for his addiction in Cuba, where he was often seen alongside the country's president, Fidel Castro.

But since a bloated Maradona returned to Argentina, speculation and concern had grown over his health.

Source: WorldSoccerNews.com

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