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We feel like a boxer who has been knocked out: Football fraternity reacts to Argentine football legend Diego Maradona`s death
Former Brazilian retired professional footballer Pele said, `For sure, one day we will kick a ball together in heaven.`
Highlights
- "One of the best ever. An unparalleled magician," wrote Cristiano Ronaldo and shared a picture with Maradona.
- Ex-England striker Gary Lineker wrote, "By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time."
- "No words to describe the pain we're going through," said Italian football club Napoli.
Buenos Aires: Argentine football legend Diego Maradona passed away on Wednesday (November 25, 2020) aged 60, reportedly due to a heart attack.
Following Diego Armando Maradona's death, several reactions poured in from the football fraternity for the legend who is most fondly remembered for winning the 1986 World Cup for Argentina
Former Brazilian retired professional footballer Pelé mourned the death of Diego Maradona and expressed his grief. Pele said, "Sad news to lose a friend like that. May God give enough strength to his family. For sure, one day we will kick a ball together in heaven."
"One of the best ever. An unparalleled magician," wrote Cristiano Ronaldo and shared a picture with Maradona.
Ex-England football player Gary Lineker wrote, "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"
"Argentina`s football association, through its president Claudio Tapia, shares its deepest pain over the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona. You will always be in our hearts," said Argentina's football association.
Former Argentina international and World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles said, "Thank dear Dieguito for your friendship, for your football, sublime, without comparison. Simply, the best football player in the history of football. So many enjoyable moments together. Impossible to say which one was the best. RIP my dear friend."
"A devastating blow for both city and club. We are in mourning. We feel like a boxer who has been knocked out. We are in shock," Reuters quoted the Italian football club Napoli where Maradona played from 1984-1991.
"Always in our hearts. Ciao Diego," Napoli tweeted.
Numerous other football players also expressed their grief over the death of Maradona.
In the 1986 World Cup for Argentina, Maradona scored, arguably, two of the most famous goals in football history in the quarter-finals against England.
The first goal, popularly known as the 'Hand of God', where he slotted the ball into the net with his bare hand while the second goal, scored just four minutes later, was quite the opposite. The diminutive Maradona single-handedly dribbled through the whole English defence and then scored past goalkeeper Peter Shilton, leaving everyone in the stadium gasping for breath. That goal, to this day, is widely considered to be the greatest goal ever scored on the football pitch.