Buenos Aires (AFP)
Mourning and sadness have spread to the world after the death of Argentinian Diego Maradona, football legend who died on Wednesday at the age of 60, leaving football enthusiasts orphaned by one of the most charismatic and controversial players in history .
In the district of Boca in Buenos Aires, but also in Europe in Naples and Barcelona, high places of the career of "Pibe de Oro" ("golden kid"), the emotion spread in the ranks of the fans, a few hours after the announcement of the death of the 1986 world champion as a result of cardiac arrest.
- Pulmonary edema and heart failure -
The death occurred "at 12 noon" (3:00 p.m. GMT), according to prosecutor John Broyard.
These preliminary autopsy results indicate that Maradona died "from secondary acute pulmonary edema and exacerbated chronic heart failure. Heart with dilated cardiomyopathy," he said.
The concern was already high in recent days: "Diego" had undergone surgery for a hematoma on the skull in early November and was recovering in a house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires at the time of his death.
Thousands of admirers gathered during the night near the stadiums of the clubs where Maradona officiated in Argentina: in Buenos Aires (Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors), Rosario (Newell's Old Boys) as well as in La Plata, where he coached. the training of Gimnasia until her death.
Others have gathered around the Obelisk of the capital, a traditional place for celebrating sporting events.
In Europe, the city of Naples was eagerly awaiting to see football again, Thursday evening for a Europa League match which will be synonymous with tribute to the greatest player in the history of the club where Maradona played from 1984 to 1991, at the top of his art after a visit to Barcelona.
As on Wednesday in the European Champions League enclosures, a minute of silence will be observed at the San Paolo stadium, which was to remain lit all night in tribute to the Argentine.
A stadium that could soon bear the name of the deceased player, the municipality having already mentioned this idea.
Many Neapolitans took to the streets to pay homage to their idol.
- "Hand of God" -
The aura of this outstanding dribbler has indeed gone beyond the scope of football enthusiasts, as Maradona marked the spirits with his goals and his spectacular movements on the ball as his excesses, oscillating between grandeur and flamboyance, decay, drugs and controversies. .
The legendary number 10 also sparked in the national team, under the jersey of the Albiceleste which he wore 91 times for 34 goals.
His goal of the hand against England in the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup, which he immediately renamed "hand of God", will remain as one of the most memorable images in football history, as will his second goal, while dribbling and nerve, in this meeting at the Aztec stadium in Mexico.
After a final lost in 1990 against Germany, his history with the World Cup ended badly, with an exclusion in the 1994 edition after a positive doping control.
The sporting twilight for Maradona despite several attempts to return.
Less restrained, his stints on the coaches' benches led him from the Argentine selection (2008-2010), to Mexico, and finally to Gimnasia La Plata in Argentina, where he was still practicing just before his death.
If the planet knew the health of the fragile "Pibe de Oro", the announcement of his death led to a deluge of sadness and praise in the world of football, where only the Brazilian Pelé (80 years) competes in the ranking informal of the greatest in history.
The latter was moved on Instagram by "sad news".
"I lost a great friend and the world has lost a legend (...) One day, I hope we can play football together in heaven", wrote "King" Pelé.
- "The greatest" -
His compatriot Lionel Messi, another Argentine genius with whom he had a complex relationship, claimed on Instagram that Maradona "leaves us but he does not go away, because Diego is eternal".
"I keep in me all the beautiful moments lived with him", wrote "La Pulga".
The five-time Portuguese Ballon d'Or Cristiano Ronaldo bade him farewell to "an eternal genius" and "an incomparable magician", while the former French playmaker and former UEFA leader Michel Platini told the AFP that "Diego Maradona will remain in the hearts of the Neapolitans, in the hearts of Argentines (...) like a star, and for eternity".
"It's a huge loss for the world in general, and for the world of football. I engraved in my head his World Cup-1986", said the French Zinédine Zidane, 1998 world champion.
"What Diego did for football, to make us all fall in love with this wonderful sport, is unique (...) He deserves our eternal gratitude", for his part reacted Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, a organization with which the deceased has always had conflicting relations.
"Eternal thank you. Eternal Diego", soberly reacted Boca Juniors, the Argentinian club where the brilliant N.10 seduced Europe, in 1981-1982, before his departure for FC Barcelona (1982-1984) and Naples (1984) -1991).
"Forever, ciao Diego", bowed the Italian club.
"You took us to the roof of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of all. Thank you for being there, Diego," Argentina President Alberto Fernandez said.
bur-ml-ama-jta / ybl /
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