Diego Maradona Died: How Did Football Legend Die?

The Argentine world football legend suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest at his home in Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires

Diego Armando Maradona died this Wednesday of a heart attack. The Argentine soccer idol died at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest in the house of the private urbanization of Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aries. El Pelusa was treated urgently by a neighboring doctor who could not save his life.

The ex-footballer of Barca and Naples, among others, and current coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata had been living in the Tigre house for just two weeks where he found death and where he settled after being discharged from the clinic where on 3 November he underwent emergency surgery for a chronic subdural hematoma.

Hundreds of people gave him their breath every day during those ten days in the hospital, in suspense by that operation. After leaving the hospital, the ‘Ten’ improved from his delicate state of health but the doctors explained that he suffered from withdrawal syndrome, which his former GP linked to excessive alcohol consumption, which can also cause the stroke for which he was intervened.

Maradona’s body remains at this time on Wednesday at his residence, waiting for the judicial authority to authorize the removal of the body and decide whether or not an autopsy will be performed. The news of the death, officially confirmed shortly after noon (Argentine time, in the afternoon in Spain) by Diego’s lawyer and spokesman, Matías Morla, was preceded by rumors and tweets from some journalists who spoke that the star had suffered a “decompensation”.

President Alberto Fernandez decrees three days of national mourning

Immediately, a version emerged about how the death had occurred, in which several journalists of events agreed: Maradona suffered the aforementioned decompensation and one of the people who took care of him prepared to administer medication but, given the worsening of his condition, he notified the private security of the San Andrés urbanization, whose guards, in turn, called a neighboring doctor while they notified the emergency services in parallel. Neither the neighbor nor the doctor from the private mutual insurance company who arrived in the ambulance could do anything and confirmed the death of the crack.

The Argentine President, Alberto Fernandez, decreed three days of national mourning. “You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of all. Thanks for having existed, Diego. We are going to miss you all our lives, ”Fernandez tweeted.

 

Diego Armando Maradona died
Diego Armando Maradona died

“I doubt that we will ever see another player like Maradona in every way, not only because of his technical qualities but also because of that courage, that strength, that claw, which he always put on every time he put on the shirt he had to defend. An exceptional player who only gave us happiness “, the president later said in an impromptu telephone interview with the sports channel TyC Sports.

“The best thing about Diego is that he was an absolutely genuine man, he was not a fake man, he was a genuine man who expressed everything with the force with which he played football, defended what he wanted, mistreated what he hated. That was Maradona in his purest form ”, declared Fernandez.

He was the best player in Argentine soccer ”

The message of the Peronist president was just one of the thousands of condolences that were expressed for the death of Maradona in the media and social networks. From the world of politics, they reacted with regret, without ideological distinction despite the sympathy that Pelusa showed for Peronism, the former president and current vice president of the country, the also justicialista Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, or the former liberal president and current opponent, Mauricio Macri.

“He was the best Argentine soccer player,” the president of the Argentine Soccer Association (AFA), Chiqui Tapia, said without hesitation in an interview. It was just one of the condolences from the local sports world. Diego’s love club, Boca Juniors, also declared mourning and its directors began talks with Conmebol to postpone the Copa Libertadores match that the Xeneize team must play tonight in Brazil against the Internacional de Porto Alegre.

Diego Maradona died
Diego Maradona in the documentary by Asif Kapadia

The television channels and the rest of the Argentine media interrupted their usual routines and focused exclusively on the death of Maradona. The presenters of several television programs cried live while reiterating their disbelief at the disappearance of the idol.

One of the first media to confirm the news was the Clarin newspaper, which on its website titled: “World upheaval.” Not even an hour had passed since the news was broadcast and all the digital editions of all Latin American newspapers opened with a large photo of Maradona.

Diego Maradona died
Diego Armando Maradona, during his time at Barcelona

Neither did groups of fans arrive at the gates of the urbanization, waiting for the transfer of Maradona’s body to be announced. Through social networks, a rally was called in the afternoon at the Obelisk, in the heart of Buenos Aires.

Maradona was an indisputable figure in world football, lived in Argentina for being the spiritual leader of the albiceleste who lifted the World Cup in Mexico ’86. He also made his mark in the eighties especially in Naples, where he is still revered for making the city’s club a winning team. With the partenopeo team he won two Italian leagues, an Italian Cup and a UEFA Cup.

During his fleeting stint at Barça during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, he won a Copa del Rey, a League Cup, and a Spanish Super Cup.

Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.

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