Tributes to Diego Maradona have been pouring out since it was confirmed that one of the greatest footballers of all time had passed away today, Wednesday, November 25, 2020, at age 60.
It was confirmed that the former FC Barcelona and Napoli football star died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires.
His death came less than two weeks after he was discharged from the hospital where he was operated upon to treat brain blood clots. He was kept at his Buenos Aires home to continue with treatment for alcohol dependency before his untimely death.
Before he retired from professional football, Maradona captained Argentina to win the 1986 World Cup. He also captained his country to win silver in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He tried to conquer the world for the third time in the United States in 1994, but his stay at the tournament was caught short because he failed a drug test.
Before he retired from national team football, Maradona scored 34 goals for Argentina in 91 appearances and represented the country in four FIFA World Cup. Even though drug addiction affected his enviable football career, he is regarded as the greatest footballer of all time by many.
As part of tributes to Diego Maradona, the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, has declared three days of national mourning for the late attacking midfielder.
The president said: “You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of them all.
“Thank you for having existed, Diego. We’re going to miss you all our lives.”
While the Argentine Football Association shared his extraordinary life in a picture on social media captioned “The Argentine Football Association, through its President Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona. You will always be in our hearts”.
La Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, a través de su Presidente Claudio Tapia, manifiesta su más profundo dolor por el fallecimiento de nuestra leyenda, Diego Armando Maradona.
— AFA (@afa) November 25, 2020
Siempre estarás en nuestros corazones 💙 pic.twitter.com/xh6DdfCFed
Besides his triumph with his national team, Maradona took the world of football by storm when he joined FC Barcelona which was short-lived due to controversies before he joined Napoli where he won two Serie A titles. His 15 months banned from football after testing positive for cocaine in 1991 has never stopped the late football great from being adored by even his contemporaries.
One of his biggest rivals in the game who football fans always compare to, Brazilian Pele, could not help but share a short statement to pay Maradona his last respect. He simply wrote: “One day we’ll kick a ball together in the sky above.”
Below are some of the tributes to Diego Maradona:
Eternas gracias. Eterno Diego. pic.twitter.com/SZVNOJnZ1j
— Boca Jrs. Oficial (desde 🏡) (@BocaJrsOficial) November 25, 2020
Privileged to have met him. Very sad news. RIP Diego Maradona. pic.twitter.com/x2LcIeQPqr
— Harry Kane (@HKane) November 25, 2020
Legendary 💔 pic.twitter.com/BRd5oAXV9S
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) November 25, 2020
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. Rest in peace Diego
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 25, 2020
Always in our hearts 💙
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) November 25, 2020
Ciao, Diego pic.twitter.com/I2gTWqdtdB
RIP to legend #Maradona 🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/U9KdyRhGBE
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) November 25, 2020
