Footballing great Diego Maradona dies aged 60

Diego Maradona has died aged 60.

Clarín, Argentina’s biggest newspaper, broke the news and his agent Matias Morla would later confirm that Maradona had died.

Maradona recently had emergency surgery for a subdural haematoma, a blood clot on the brain, and was released from hospital in early November.

However, the former Argentina player and manager died in Tigre following a cardiorespiratory arrest.

Three days of national mourning have been announced by Argentine president Alberto Fernandez following the news of Maradona’s death.

"You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of them all," said Fernandez.

Maradona made 91 appearances for Argentina, scoring 34 goals, and represented La Albiceleste at four World Cups, leading a Carlos Bilardo-coached team to their second title in 1986.

The then 25-year-old would burnish his legacy with two goals as Argentina beat England at the quarter-final stage of that tournament in Mexico.

The first, which Maradona would term ‘The Hand of God’, saw the diminutive playmaker beat England keeper Peter Shilton to the ball to flick home with his hand, and the second, which became known as ‘The Goal of the Century’ saw him beat four England players - Peter Beardsley, Peter Reid, Terry Butcher (twice) and Terry Fenwick – before rounding Shilton to double his side’s advantage. Bilardo’s side would win the tie 2-1 before beating Belgium - Maradona scoring another brace - in the semi-final and West Germany in the final, where he set up Jorge Burruchaga for an 86th-minute winner.

In 1990, he led Argentina to another World Cup final, beating hosts Italy in the last four, but would lose to West Germany following an 85th-minute penalty from Andreas Brehme. His fourth World Cup appearance, USA 1994, was brought to a premature end after he failed a drugs test for ephedrine.

At club level, Maradona will always be inextricably linked with Napoli, from whom he move to in 1984 after two unhappy years at Barcelona. The 1987 season ended with Maradona, as captain, winning both the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto. It represented a first league title in the club's history and set in stone Maradona's mythical status in the city. The club would add a UEFA Cup, again a first, in 1989, beating Stuttgart in the final, and another league title in 1990.

However, he would struggle with a cocaine addiction for large swathes of his career, and was banned for 15 months in 1991 for testing positive for the drug.

Post-ban, Maradona would move to Sevilla but was unable to replicate the form of yesteryear and moves to Newell's Old Boys (1993) and Boca Juniors (1995) would offer glimpses of brilliance before retirement in 1997.

After retirement, Maradona’s vices would spiral out of control, and he nearly died of cocaine-induced heart failure in 2000. However, post-recovery he would manage the national team, from 2008 to 2010, and had spells in the Middle East and Mexico before taking the reins at Gimnasia in the Primera División in Argentina in 2019.