The Legend Footballer Diego Maradona dies in Argentina he has no more with us, The superstar’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo “could not even dream” of being admired as much as Diego Maradona was, says his previous Argentina team-mate Ossie Ardiles.
Three days of countrywide mourning have begun in Argentina after Maradona expired on Wednesday at the age of sixty (60).
His body will lie in state at the Casa Rosada, the executive palace in Buenos Aires, during that time.
“To be Diego Maradona was tremendously beautiful and legend,” Ardiles told.
“further added it was not easy at all. Right from an actually early age, he was subject to the press all the time. He didn’t have a normal childhood; he never had normal youth years.
“Everyone needed to be with him, everybody wanted a piece of him, so it was extremely difficult.”
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Maradona, who played for clubs including Barcelona and Napoli, was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, recording the well-known ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the quarter-finals.
Former Tottenham midfielder Ardiles, who played alongside Maradona at the 1982 World Cup, said he was “a god” in Argentina, in Naples and all around the world.
“He will be evoked as a genius in football,” he added. “You can see the extraordinary amount of interest that he generates.
“People like [Juventus and Portugal striker] Ronaldo, or people like [Barcelona and Argentina forward] Messi, they couldn’t even dream of having this kind of admiration.
“That was the Maradona phenomenon – all the time.”
A post-mortem examination was due to take place on Maradona’s body later on Wednesday after he died at about midday local time at his home in Tigre, near Buenos Aires.
Former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency.
A minute’s silence took place before Wednesday’s Champions League matches and the same will happen before all other European fixtures this week.
Messi and Ronaldo both are legends and were among the current players to pay tribute, while Brazilian football great Pele said he expected one day they would “play ball together in the sky”.
“There was multiple banners in Argentina, approximately one year ago, that I read that he said: ‘No matter what you have done with your life, Diego, it matters what you do for our lives,'” which is a very popular quote and the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola added.
“It expresses perfectly what this guy gave us. The man of happiness and aspiration and his commitment for world football.”
Uki Goni Post on Twitter: at least one million people are expected to march past Diego Maradona’s coffin tomorrow while he lies in state at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Argentina’s capital city of Buenos Aires, an administration source confirmed this evening.
Everybody knows that The entrances of the Casa Rosada (Pink House) will be opened at 8 am (11 am GMT) on Tuesday for the public, who will give the football superstar a hero’s farewell. Its Enormous crowd have already gathered at the city’s landmark obelisk on the wide 9 de Julio avenue, as well as outside the Argentinos Juniors football stadium where Maradona began his stellar career.
Peter Shilton has had his say in the Mail and appears unwilling to forgive Maradona for that handball goal.
“What I don’t like is that he never says sorry. Never at any phase did he say he had angry and that he would like to say sorry. Instead, he used his ‘Hand of God’ line. That wasn’t right. It looks like he had immensity in him but unhappily no sportsmanship.”
Numerous of the British papers went with a similar theme for their Thursday editions. It all sensations a little mean-spirited and parochial; there was much, much more to Maradona.
