El Diez, Entre el Cielo y el Infierno (Number 10, Between Heaven and Hell) will debut at the Metropolitan Theatre in Argentina's capital, Jan. 3, 2004. The title refers to the soccer player's jersey number as well as his tumultuous life story. The musical tells the story of his rise to fame from a boy in a small town to a champion in the World Cup. A few years after his international success, he was at the center of a drug scandal and was banned from soccer. He returned to the game a few years later before retiring at 37 in 1997.

Maradona will played by three actors in the musical — one adolescent, one adult (during his soccer prime) and one as a (fictionally projected) elderly man of 80. The cast of the stageshow totals at 45 — a number that closely resembles that of another musical about a famous Argentinean, Evita.

Hector Berra, co-creator of El Diez with Daniel Datola, is reportedly planning to translate the work into English and bring the musical to various international stages including London and New York.