South American celebrated soccer player Diego Maradona, a legend and the one of the sports all time greats has passed away at the ago of 60. He made his mark "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup.
A rare talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro" or "The Golden Boy", a name that stuck with him throughout his career. Maradona was the first player in football history to set the world record transfer fee two time, first when he transferred to Barcelona for a then-world record £5 million, and second, when he transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9 million.
Maradona had to get surgery earlier this month for blood clot treatment.
Upon hearing the news of Maradona's ill health fans sent their good wishes via social media.
On Tuesday morning, Maradona died from heart failure in the midst of recovering from surgery.
Twitter flooded with messages from those in the sports world and outside of that medium. The "The Argentine Football Association, through its President Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona," the Argentine Football Association announced. "You will always be in our hearts."
La Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, a través de su Presidente Claudio Tapia, manifiesta su más profundo dolor por el fallecimiento de nuestra leyenda, Diego Armando Maradona.
— AFA (@afa) November 25, 2020
Siempre estarás en nuestros corazones 💙 pic.twitter.com/xh6DdfCFed
Our thoughts are with @afa and Argentina after the passing of one of the all-time greats.
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) November 25, 2020
Rest in peace, Diego 💙 pic.twitter.com/4IAEOhOGnt
Always a delight to be in his company. 🙌🏻 https://t.co/SfTo8SLqlR
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 25, 2020
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez tweeted in Spanish. "You were the greatest of all. Thanks for having existed, Diego. We will miss you for a lifetime."
Nos llevaste a lo más alto del mundo. Nos hiciste inmensamente felices. Fuiste el más grande de todos.
— Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) November 25, 2020
Gracias por haber existido, Diego. Te vamos a extrañar toda la vida. pic.twitter.com/pAf38sRlGC
In his sports career with Argentina he ended up with 91 caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was also awarded with the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
Maradona made 694 appearances and scored 354 goals for club and country combined, with a goalscoring average of 0.51.
He passed away at his home in Argentina on Wednesday. May he peacefully rest in the Hand of God.
Photo courtesy of Instagram.