Argentine legend Diego Maradona lies in hospital after undergoing successful surgery to stop internal bleeding caused by a hernia.

The 58-year-old former captain and coach found the problem during a routine medical examination at the hospital this month. Maradona underwent surgery on Saturday to stop bleeding in his stomach.

"Maradona underwent surgical intervention," said Maradona's lawyer Matthias Morela in a private account on Twitter.

Doctors discovered the bleeding shortly before Maradona's departure to Mexico, where he is training second-division rival Doriados de Sinaloa.

Murla said Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986, would return to the Mexican club once he recovered.