Olivos (Argentina) (AFP)

After eight days of hospitalization, ex-Argentinian football champion Diego Maradona was preparing to leave the clinic in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires on Wednesday, where he was successfully operated on for a bruise on his head.

"Maradona is allowed to go out," her personal doctor, Dr Leopoldo Luque, told reporters in front of the establishment as they left the scene.

"It will be released soon," he said.

Shortly before, the doctor had published on his Instagram account a photo showing him next to his famous patient whose head was barred with a large bandage.

Diego Maradona, 60, could continue his convalescence in a house, probably in Tigre, 30 km north of Buenos Aires, in a condominium near the home of his daughter Giannina.

The latter is one of the five recognized children of the former player.

"The idea is that Diego is surrounded by the people who are closest to him because these are the links that can help him to recover, in addition to the psychological and medical follow-up," Carlos Diaz, psychologist and member said on Monday. of the medical team treating the former footballer.

In the morning, Diego Maradona's lawyer, Matias Morla, said his client was "going through perhaps the most difficult moment of his life".

"It is a miracle that the hematoma on the head has been detected," he added.

The 1986 world champion was hospitalized with anemia and dehydration on November 2 in La Plata, a city 60 km from Buenos Aires and where he coaches the local club.

A CT scan then revealed the presence of a subdural hematoma, a pocket of blood formed under the skull.

This had led to his transfer to a private clinic in Olivos where he was successfully operated on the next day.

- Abstinence syndrome -

However, during the postoperative period, the former N. 10 experienced difficulties related to an abstinence syndrome, in connection with his consumption of alcohol and sleeping pills, according to Dr. Luque, justifying the duration of hospitalization of his patient, despite an "amazing" recovery after the operation.

Diego Maradona's life has been punctuated by many health problems, some of which are linked to excesses of all kinds which have sometimes made him flirt with death.

In 2000, he had a heart attack following an overdose in the Uruguayan seaside resort of Punta del Este.

He then followed a long cure in Cuba.

In 2004, when he weighed over 100 kg, another heart attack struck him down in Buenos Aires, but he was okay.

He then had stomach surgery to lose a lot of weight.

In 2007, excessive alcohol consumption had driven him to the hospital.

Lately, he had to have a prosthesis fitted because of his sore knees.

Confined since March because of the pandemic and his fragile health, Diego Maradona had insisted on October 30, the day of his 60th birthday, to lead the training of his players from the club of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.

But he didn't appear to be in good shape, was walking with difficulty and had only been on the pitch for a few minutes before retiring.

Much like Brazilian Pelé, who turned 80 in October, Maradona is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time.

© 2020 AFP