Argentina soccer legend Maradona dies
ARGENTINA soccer legend Diego Maradona, widely regarded as one of the game’s greatest ever players, died of a heart attack yesterday, his lawyer said.
Maradona, 60, underwent surgery on November 3 after which his personal doctor Leopoldo Luque said that he was suffering from confusion caused by “abstinence”.
However, he recovered enough to leave the hospital. He suffered a heart attack at his home in the outskirts of Buenos Aires yesterday, Argentinian media and acquaintances of the former player said.
Maradona was the captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup.
The tournament featured a number of sublime performances from the legendary forward, the most prominent of which came in a semi- final match against England and has since been dubbed the “Goal of the Century”.
He scored after going on a 55m run with the ball from midfield, dribbling past six English players.
Maradona also played for Spanish giants Barcelona and Napoli in Italy.
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning after the news of Maradona’s death.
Retired Brazilian soccer star Pelé also mourned the death of Maradona yesterday.
WORLD soccer great Diego Armando Maradona, who died ysterday less than a month after his 60th birthday, was worshipped like a god for his genius with the ball, but his demons almost destroyed him.
Maradona died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Buenos Aires. Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning.
Maradona was a rags- to- riches story in his soccer- mad homeland and he gained the iconic status of compatriots Che Guevara and Evita Peron.
His pinnacle of glory came when he captained Argentina to win the World Cup in 1986, before plunging to misery when he was kicked out the 1994 World Cup for doping.
Years of drug use, overeating and alcoholism truncated a stellar career and altered his appearance from the lithe athlete who could slalom effortlessly through teams to a bloated addict who nearly died of cocaine- induced heart failure in 2000.
But he reinvented himself in a
stunning comeback in 2008 as coach of Argentina, persuading managers that with sheer charisma he could inspire the team to victory, despite a lack of coaching experience.
A magician with the ball – deceptively quick and a visionary passer – he is considered the greatest soccer player edging out that other great, Brazil’s Pele.
He was largely responsible for Argentina’s World Cup victory in 1986 in Mexico, scoring two goals against England in the quarter- finals, one with his fist and the second, where he dribbled past half the England team, is often called the goal of the century.
The prodigy made his league debut at 15, and, at 17, just missed inclusion in Argentina’s 1978 World Cup- winning squad at home.
After the 1986 World Cup triumph in Mexico, he coaxed a mediocre Argentina team to a second successive World Cup final in Rome in 1990.
But by 1991, drugs and alcohol began taking over his life.
That year Maradona was handed a 15- month suspension for doping and was called to trial in Naples over alleged links with a vice ring.
The compact, 1.65m- tall player with dark curly hair and a pugnacious set to his jaw surrounded himself with an entourage of yes- men and became known for his sharp- tongued confrontations with reporters and critics.
Through the years he reflected openly on his greatness and on weaknesses. “Soccer is the most beautiful and healthy sport in the world. Soccer shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes. It’s not the ball’s fault,” he once said.
For many, his off- pitch sins overshadowed his genius.
“My main doubt is whether he has the sufficient greatness as a person to justify being honored by a worldwide audience,” Pele said after a popular vote gave Maradona the Fifa century award in 2000, leaving Pele second.
Drug and alcohol experts called Maradona’s abuse of one substance after another a slow- motion suicide and he was never far from front pages.
During a rest cure in Italy, tax police confiscated his trademark diamond earring to help pay back taxes.
But fans remained devoted. From China to Europe, Argentines found they could make friends just by mentioning Maradona’s name.
“In our collective imagination Diego Maradona represents a certain glorious past, he’s a symbol of what we might have been,” popular culture professor at Buenos Aires University and Maradona expert Pablo Alabarces said.
“He will always be forgiven,” said Maradona fan Marcelo Pose, a Buenos Aires attorney.