Football legend Diego Maradona is dead
CNM Sports
Diego Maradona, Argentina football legend and one of the greatest players of all time, dies at 60.Football fans all over the world mourn the death of the high-profile football player.
He died on Wednesday at his home in Argentina after suffering a heart attack, his lawyer said. He was 60.
In Buenos Aires, people began pouring on to the streets to mourn the nation’s favourite son, gathering in the San Andres neighbourhood where he lived, in Boca, the gritty barrio where he first became a star, and in the nearby city of La Plata where he had lately been technical director for local team Gimnasia y Esgrima.
The Argentine government has declared three days of mourning. President Alberto Fernandez said in a tweet, “You took us to the highest point in the world, and made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of all. Thank you for having been with us, Diego. We will miss you all our lives.”
A wake would take place at Casa Rosada presidential palace from Thursday until Saturday, a government spokesman said.
Pope Francis, an Argentine and a football fan, was remembering Maradona in his prayers, the Vatican said-reports Reuters news agency.
As well as many match-winning performances, Maradona charmed the world with ball-juggling skills that he first showed off as a 12-year-old ball boy.
But the other side of Maradona surfaced in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, when he was sent home after failing a doping test.
His last goal for Argentina came in that tournament against Greece in Boston and he celebrated by screaming angrily into a television camera.
Pele, the Brazilian footballer who is considered one of the only players to have come close to Maradona’s skill level, was quick to pay tribute to the Argentine.
