Maradona dies aged 60: tributes and reaction – latest updates

Here is the Guardian’s obituary on a “prodigiously skilled footballer who captained Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup”.

Mourners are continuing to gather outside Diego Maradona’s home in Benavidez, Buneos Aires.

It is a desolate scene at La Bombanera too, the home of Boca Juniors.

It’s nice to hear what our regular contributors to our football live blogs have to say – and this is lovely from Justin Kavanagh: “A sad day for football and for Argentina too. But as Maradona was so great at making people smile (even English people!), here is a happy memory. My favourite football quote of all time is from Héctor Enrique, the man who passed Maradona the ball in midfield, despite his being surrounded by three English shirts. Asked about the subsequent ‘goal of the century’ his teammate scored, Enrique smiled mischievously, then laughed “Well with a pass like that, he could hardly miss, could he?!” RIP Diego and thanks for all the wonderful memories. You were the best of heroes and the best of villains, and you lit up the world for football lovers everywhere.”

The tributes continue to pour in from around the world of football. River Plate, the fierce Buenos Aires rivals of Diego’s team, Boca Juniors, have shown their respect in a touching tweet in which they make it clear although Maradona has gone, his influence on football will live on:

The Uefa president, Aleksander Čeferin, has expressed his sadness at the news of Maradona’s death.

I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Diego Maradona, one of world football’s greatest and most iconic figures. He achieved greatness as a wonderful player with a genius and charisma of his own.

My favourite image of Maradona is the one of him seemingly taking on the entire Belgium defence in the 1982 World Cup – and it is of course in this wonderful gallery of the great man’s life and times.

For further reading on that iconic photo from Spain 82 this piece by Jonny Weeks is essential reading:

Hello, Gregg Bakowski here. I’ll be helming this blog for a while now. There will be countless pieces written about Diego Maradona in the coming days and weeks but one of the great football writers, David Lacey, wrote this brilliant one back in 2004, in which he reminds us all to recall the best not the worst of Maradona.

Lionel Messi has paid tribute on Instagram

A very sad day for all Argentines and for football. He leaves us but does not leave, because Diego is eternal. I keep all the beautiful moments lived with him and I send my condolences to all his family and friends. RIP.

A minute’s silence was held for Maradona ahead of Manchester City’s match at Olympiakos.

A gallery to show just how exalted Maradona was.

Cristiano Ronaldo has paid social media tribute.

Today I say goodbye to a friend and the world says goodbye to an eternal genius. One of the best ever. An unparalleled magician. He leaves too soon, but leaves a legacy without limits and a void that will never be filled. Rest in peace, ace. You will never be forgotten.

The Hand of God recalled by the man himself.

“Today is a bad day, a very sad day for all Argentines,” said Argentina president Alberto Fernández in a TV interview. “I doubt that we will ever see another player like Maradona. 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, he defended what he wanted, mistreated what
he hated. That was Maradona in his purest state.”

Johan Cruyff, another all-time great, and a fellow Barcelona alumnus, has paid tribute, despite himself dying in 2016. The Twitter account is run by his foundation.

Pele, Maradona’s only competitor to be the 20th century’s greatest player, has also paid tribute. The pair had a testy relationship, but eventually made their peace with each other.

What sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. There is still much to be said, but for now, may God give strength to family members. One day, I hope we can play ball together in the sky.

A bulkier, mulleted Maradona graced Sevilla for only a short time during the 1992-93 season.

Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s tribute to Maradona.

This clip, watched millions of times over, captures the vitality of Maradona the player showed. Football came easier to him than just about anyone. Live is life indeed.

Maradona’s teammate at the 1982 World Cup, Mario Kempes, was the player who inspired Argentina to the 1978 World Cup, which a teenage Maradona was disappointed to have missed out on.

Diego Armando Maradona has left us the day of Argentine soccer, and through this medium I want to send my most heartfelt words of condolences to all his family and friends. Fly high Diego, RIP.

Some details on his death from our international desk.

Maradona died shortly before midday at a rented home in the San Andrés gated community in the suburb of Benavidez, north of Buenos Aires, according to press reports in Argentina. He is said to have died from a heart attack, while recovering at his home from a brain operation on 3 November. Although the operation had been successful, Maradona was reported to be suffering from abstinence from his alcohol habit.

He wasn’t just an idol in Argentina. Napoli saw the best years of his playing career.

Here’s your chance to share your view of the great man.

Maradona coached Argentina at the 2010 World Cup. They were great fun to watch, and ultimately fell apart at the hands of Germany in the quarter-finals, but he was even better to watch on the sidelines.

Ossie Ardiles, a friend and teammate of Maradona with the Argentina national team, has paid this pair of tributes.

In England, Gary Lineker has led the tributes. He and Maradona are inextricably linked by that game at the 1986 World Cup.

Diego Maradona, perhaps the 20th century’s greatest footballer, has died. A cardiac arrest is reported in Argentina to be the cause of death. He had lately been ill with a brain haemorrhage to follow many years of ill health. Nobody has burned brighter as a footballer, and very few have crashed down so like he did. The downfall, all 34 years of it, will be picked over piece by piece, but remember him this way, and in the words of BBC radio commentator Bryon Butler as he sauntered through England’s defence at the 1986 World Cup to score his second goal.

Maradona, turns like a little eel, he comes away from trouble, little squat man … comes inside [Terry] Butcher and leaves him for dead, outside [Terry] Fenwick and leaves him for dead, and puts the ball away … and that is why Maradona is the greatest player in the world.