Argentinian football legend Diego Armando Maradona has died at the age of 60.
The football legend is regarded as one of the greatest of all time and helped Argentina win the World Cup in 1986.
According to reports in his homeland the former attacking midfielder and manager had a cardiac arrest at home.
The Argentinian Football Association has confirmed the news.
Eternas gracias. Eterno Diego. pic.twitter.com/SZVNOJnZ1j
— Boca Jrs. Oficial (desde 🏡) (@BocaJrsOficial) November 25, 2020
The Argentina World Cup winner and the national team’s former manager had been in hospital in Buenos Aires after surgery to remove a blood clot on the brain earlier this month.
READ MORE: Diego Maradona dead: Tributes paid to football icon
The AFA said on Twitter: “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.”
Maradona is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and was the inspiration for Argentina’s World Cup success in Mexico in 1986. He also led the country to the final of the 1990 tournament in Italy and managed them in South Africa in 2010.
Affectionately known as ‘Diego’ he played football for Boca Juniors, Napoli, and Barcelona among others.
He was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.
READ MORE: Diego Maradona dead: Football icon’s life and career in pictures
Legendary 💔 pic.twitter.com/BRd5oAXV9S
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) November 25, 2020
He is also famous for his role in the 'Hand of God' goal that eliminated England from the 1986 tournament.
READ MORE: Diego Maradona dead: Minute's silence to be held before Champions League games
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.
Siempre estarás en nuestros corazones 💙 pic.twitter.com/xh6DdfCFed
— AFA (@afa) November 25, 2020
He also led the country to the final of the 1990 tournament in Italy and managed them in South Africa in 2010.
Maradona’s successes made him a global star and a national hero in Argentina but his career was also blighted by controversies on and off the field.
His ‘Hand of God’’ goal against England in the 1986 quarter-finals, when he pushed the ball into the net with his hand, earned him infamy – although he followed up by scoring the “goal of the century”, a remarkable solo effort, in the same game.
His international playing career ended in shame when he failed a drugs test at the 1994 World Cup in the United States and he was notorious for a wayward lifestyle throughout his life. He was also banned from football in 1991 after testing positive for cocaine while playing for Napoli.
However, he remained a revered figure at the Italian club, where he won two Serie A titles.He also played for Barcelona, Sevilla, Boca Juniors and Newell’s Old Boys and was most recently manager of Gimnasia y Esgrima in La Plata, Argentina.
Maradona had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency.
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