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Diego Maradona, Argentina football legend dies at 60

Diego Maradona was inspirational as captain when Argentina won the World Cup in 1986.

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Football legend Diego Maradona has passed on, reports from Argentina indicate.

The former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November.

It was then announced he was to be treated for alcohol dependency.

One of the greatest players of all time, Maradona was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, producing a series of sublime individual performances.

He played for Barcelona and Napoli during his club career, winning two Serie A titles with the Italian side.

Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina, representing them in four World Cups.

He led his country to the 1990 final in Italy, where they were beaten by West Germany, before captaining them again in the United States in 1994, but was sent home after failing a drugs test for ephedrine.

During the second half of his career, Maradona struggled with cocaine addiction and was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991.

He retired from professional football in 1997, on his 37th birthday.

“The Argentine Football Association, through its President Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest pain at the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona. You’ll always be in our hearts,” said the country’s FA on twitter.

England’s Gary Lineker, the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, paid tribute to Maradona. “By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God.”

 

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