Football legend Diego Maradona dies

Touted by many as the greatest footballer of all time, Diego Armando Maradona passed away aged 60 on Wednesday.

He died of a heart attack at his home in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, sources close to him confirmed.

The Argentine had brain surgery earlier this month after having a blood clot there.

The country has declared three days of national mourning for Maradona.

In Bangladesh, thousands of miles away from Argentina, his popularity has been immense and is one of the biggest reasons why the Argentine national team are so heavily supported, even to this day.

Maradona led his national team to the World Cup glory in 1986 as captain and his level of skill, creativity, strength and mental fortitude were there for all to see in television screens across Bangladesh.

It was a level of football mastery that perhaps was not seen before and his "one-man show" led to his and Argentina's rise in popularity in the world. 

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That World Cup also saw him score perhaps the greatest goal of all time in the 2-1 quarter-final win against England.

In that match, the forward also infamously scored with his hand, showing his darker, more mischievous side and he later would coin that goal as the "Hand of God".

Apart from his triumphs with Argentina, Maradona had a storied club career, most notably with Italian club Napoli, where he led them to their first-ever league title in 1987.

He would go on to take the team to another Serie A title in 1990 along with an Italian Cup in 1987 and a Uefa Cup in 1989.

Napoli, prior to signing Maradona, were a club that were not one of the powerhouses of Italian football like Juventus, Milan and Inter, but his arrival changed that and took them to their most successful period in history.

Maradona's impact at Napoli was so great, that the club announced in 2000 that they would be retiring the number 10 shirt.
However, it was during his seven years in Naples that he developed an addiction to cocaine and he was hit with a 15-month suspension for drug violations in 1991. That was also the year he left Napoli.

Three years later, he was ousted from the World Cup in the USA after testing positive for ephedrine.

From there Maradona's personal life spiralled out of control and in 2000 and 2004 he was hospitalised for cardiac problems, the second time requiring the use of a respirator to breathe properly. The following year he underwent gastric-bypass surgery to help stem his obesity.

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But none of these could overshadow his obvious footballing talents, which at their peak were unparalleled.

Born in Buenos Aires on 30 October 1960, Maradona was a child prodigy who had footballing talent in every ounce of his body.

He joined Los Cebollitas, a youth team of Argentinos Juniors, at the age of 10 and helped them go on an incredible 136-game winning streak.

Those performances led to him making his debut for Argentina, just before his 16th birthday.

Given his remarkable talents and footballing prowess, Maradona was sought after by the world's biggest clubs.

FILE PHOTO: Argentine star Diego Maradona holds up the World Cup trophy as he is carried off the field after Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2 to win the World Cup soccer championship in Mexico City June 29, 1986. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/File Photo

After making his World Cup debut for Argentina in the 1982 edition in Spain, he joined Barcelona for a then world-record fee of £5 million.

He, however, struggled at the Catalan club, partly because of a broken ankle he suffered from a tackle by Andoni Goicoechea in September 1983.

That led to his transfer to Napoli in 1984 and after recovering from the injury, Maradona hit his peak.

Two years later in 1986, he established himself as an all-time great in the World Cup where he played every minute of every game for Argentina.

He scored five goals and five assists and almost single-handedly took an otherwise underwhelming Argentina team to the World Cup.

Maradona would play for the Albiceleste in two more World Cups - in 1990 (where he took Argentina to the final) and in 1994 (where he played his last match for the national side in a 4-0 group stage win against Greece).

In total, Maradona played for the national team 91 times and scored 34 goals.

At club level, Maradona joined Sevilla after leaving Napoli as their greatest-ever player and then played for Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors in Argentina.

He retired at Boca in 1997.

Diego Maradona tickles the ball over the head of England’s Peter Shilton to give Argentina a 1-0 lead at the Azteca Stadium. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

Although he often had personal battles with drugs, Maradona remained involved in the game he loved and had a managerial stint for Argentina.

He took the team to the quarter-finals in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a team which included the likes of Lionel Messi, Juan Veron and Carlos Tevez.

Maradona will be remembered for his playing exploits when all is said and done.

Named South American Footballer of the Year on five occasions, he was named Fifa's Player of the Century in 2000, alongside Pele.

The voting was done online and by Fifa officials, coaches and players, and Maradona won on popular votes.

The footballing world mourns the death of one of its greatest players, heroes and icons.

Maradona may not be with us any more, but his exploits in the footballing pitch will never be forgotten.