Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Barcelona lead the tributes to ‘legendary’ Diego Maradona as the world of football mourns the passing of Argentine hero
- Diego Maradona has died from a heart attack in Argentina at the age of 60
- It comes just three weeks after he had surgery on a blood clot in his brain
- His passing has left the world of football in mourning at loss of one of its icons
Tributes from the world of football are flooding in after Diego Maradona died at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest on Wednesday.
The football legend had a heart attack at his home just two weeks after leaving hospital where he underwent surgery on a blot clot in his brain.
Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, helped Argentina win the World Cup in 1986, the pinnacle of an illustrious career that saw him widely adored for spells at Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Napoli at club level.
Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has died at the age of 60, according to reports
Maradona’s Hand of God was responsible for England’s elimination from the 1986 World Cup
His former clubs and the Argentine national team’s Twitter account were among the first to pay tribute.
Barcelona, where he enjoyed two seasons between 1982 and 1984, tweeted: ‘Thank you for everything, Diego’.
The AFA, tweeted: ‘The Argentine Football Association, through its president Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona.
‘You will always be in our hearts.
Boca Juniors, where Maradona began and ended his career in Argentina, tweeted: ‘Eternal thank you. Eternal Diego.’
With the sport in mourning, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford led the tributes with just one word, ‘Legendary’, alongside a picture of the former Napoli and Barcelona icon in his heyday.
Gary Lineker, who was on the receiving end of Maradona’s famous Hand of God and his incredible solo goal in Argentina’s quarter-final victory over England in Mexico in 1986, tweeted: ‘Reports from Argentina that Diego Armando Maradona has died.
‘By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego’.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher tweeted: ‘I’ll never forget watching Diego Maradona as an 8 yr old at the World Cup in Mexico. Never seen anything like it on that stage since. Sad news #Maradona’.
Former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen added: ‘Quite simply – a player like no other. Rest In Peace Diego Maradona.’
England captain Harry Kane tweeted a picture of when he met Maradona in the Tottenham dressing room in 2017, and wrote: ‘Privileged to have met him. Very sad news. RIP Diego Maradona.’
Stan Collymore tweeted: ‘The football Gods shone brightly on this one. What an incredible, incredible footballer.’
Everton striker Richarlison tweeted a picture of Maradona in a Brazil shirt, with just a sad face emoji to accompany it.
