ARGENTINA FOOTBALL GREAT Diego Maradona has passed away at the age of 60, a spokesman has confirmed to AFP.
The 1986 World Cup winner and current coach of La Plata side Gimnasia had turned 60 at the end of October.
His spokesman said he died of a heart attack, having undergone brain surgery for a blood clot in Buenos Aires earlier this month.
It was reported earlier this evening on Argentine television that he was in critical condition.
The Argentina national team has paid tribute to him, saying: “You will #Eterno in every heart of the soccer planet”.
Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper reported that he died at lunchtime at his home in San Andrés. The paper reports that he suffered a cardiac arrest and that nine ambulances attended the scene but that he could not be resuscitated.
Maradona will be remembered as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
His signature achievement is leading Argentina to winning the 1986 World Cup; his two-goal performance in the quarter-final against England one of the most iconic individual performances in the competition’s history.
His finest hour at club level came at Napoli, leading an unfancied and disparaged club from the south of Italy to two Serie A titles, the Uefa Cup, and the Italian Cup, a series of improbable victories over the established and affluent clubs from the North.
He also won a Spanish Cup with Barcelona and a domestic title with Boca Juniors of Argentina.
In 2000, he was the joint-winner of Fifa’s Player of the Century award, which he shared with Pele.
This award was invoked by President Michael D. Higgins in his tribute to Maradona.
“It is with sadness that I and supporters of football everywhere will have learned of the death of Diego Maradona, arguably and widely regarded as the World’s greatest football player of all time.
“Football fans around the world will remember Maradona not only for his phenomenal talent for ball control, passing and dribbling, but for the vision of him on the field and the joy he brought to so many. He was an inspiration for many a young child playing football.”
As a coach, Maradona led Argentina at the 2010 World Cup, and also enjoyed stints in Dubai and Mexico. He will chiefly be remembered as a player, however, as much for his style and skills as his success.
Additional reporting by Gavin Cooney
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