FOOTBALL LEGEND DIEGO MARADONA PASSES AWAY
DIEGO Maradona, one of the greatest footballers of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 60, plunging his sport and his native Argentina into mourning. Renowned along with Pele as one of the greatest players ever to play the game, the Argentine World Cup-winning captain died of a heart attack, having undergone brain surgery earlier this month, a member of his entourage said.
Maradona will forever be known for his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final in Mexico. Pele said
Maradona had been a “dear friend” and said he hoped they would “play together in the sky” one day.
Gary Lineker, who was in the England team defeated in 1986, tweeted that Maradona was “arguably the greatest of all time” but made a reference to that infamous goal by adding: “After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego”
Lionel Messi, the Argentine considered one of the world’s greatest modern-day players, said Maradona was “eternal”.
THE football world united to pay tribute to one of the game’s greatest-ever players after Argentine legend Diego Maradona died at the age of 60 on Wednesday.
Renowned for inspiring Argentina to win the World Cup in 1986, he was most loved at club level for his spells with Boca Juniors in his homeland and Napoli in Italy, where he won the club’s only two Serie A titles.
“You are eternal in every heart in world football,” the Twitter account of the Argentina national team posted alongside a picture of Maradona holding the World Cup.
Napoli’s Twitter feed said:
“Always in our hearts, Ciao Diego.” Boca posted: “Eternal thanks. Eternal Diego.”
Maradona also played for Barcelona and Sevilla in Europe and Argentinos Juniors and Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina before embarking on a far less successful managerial career.
“Thank you for everything Diego. FC Barcelona expresses its deepest condolences regarding the death of Diego Armando Maradona, a player for our club (1982-84) and an icon of world football,” Barcelona said in a statement.
Maradona is remembered for his masterly composure on the ball, but he was also famous for his frequent lack of control both on the field and off.
He struggled with addic
tion, notably to cocaine, and with his weight, in contrast to the more clean-cut image of Brazilian legend and threetime World Cup winner Pele.
“What sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend,” Pele tweeted. “One day, I hope we play soccer together in the sky.”
The pinnacle of Maradona’s playing career came in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, where his two iconic goals defeated England 2-1.
Both goals reflected Maradona’s larger-than-life character.
For the first he punched the ball into the net for a goal he named “Hand of God”, while for the second he showed incredible skill by dancing round the England team from inside
his own half.
“By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time,” said Gary Lineker, who scored England’s goal in that match.
“After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.”
‘Diego is eternal’ - Messi
Lionel Messi paid tribute to Diego Maradona on Wednesday by calling him “eternal” after his fellow Argentinian football great died of a heart attack, aged 60.
“A very sad day for all Argentines and football,” Messi wrote on Instagram.
“He has left us but he will never leave us because
Diego is eternal.
“I will keep all the beautiful moments that I lived with him and would like to send my condolences to all his family and friends. RIP.”
‘A bit of our past has gone’ - Platini
European footballing great Michel Platini said “a bit of our past has gone”. “I am very sad. I am nostalgic for what was a wonderful era,” Platini, who starred for France in the 1980s and played for Juventus against Maradona’s Napoli, told French radio station RTL.
“Diego left a mark on my life.”
‘Ciao Diego:’ Napoli bid farewell to club legend
Napoli on Wednesday bid
farewell to Maradona, who won the hearts of the southern Italian city of Naples by leading the club to its only two league titles in 1987 and 1990.
“Always in our hearts. Ciao Diego,” the club tweeted alongside a blue heart emoji shortly after the news broke that the Argentine had died of a heart attack aged 60.
“Everyone is waiting for our words,” the club said in a second post with a photograph of the Argentine in the club’s blue jersey.
“But what words can we use for pain like the one we are experiencing? Now is the time for tears. Then there will be the time for words.”
As a sign of mourning, Napoli changed the blue background colour of its club
logo on their social media accounts to black.
Maradona spent seven years at then-unfashionable Napoli between 1984 and 1991, during which he also lifted the 1989 UEFA Cup, Napoli’s only European trophy.
He also won the Italian Cup in 1987 and the Italian Super Cup in 1990.
Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora, a native of Naples, also paid tribute to Maradona.
“The death of Maradona is terrible news. He was more than a champion, he was a football genius, an absolute champion,” Spadafora said.
“In an unrepeatable season he represented the dreams and hopes of the people of my city. Naples is crying tonight.”