He was considered one of the best footballers in the world. Diego Armando Maradona. The man with the “hand of God” died on Wednesday at the age of 60. This is how the international press comments on the Argentine’s death.
Diego Armando Maradona was a legend even during his lifetime. With his spectacular dribbles, the Argentine soccer star delighted millions of fans around the globe, but also caused negative headlines and controversy off the pitch. On Wednesday, Maradona, who had been in poor health for years, died of a heart attack at the age of only 60 in his house in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. The international press wrote about the death of the Argentine football icon:
Great Britain
“The Guardian”: “Maradona was a perfect portrayal of the human ability to be contradicting, ugly and beautiful at the same time to convey (…). Without question, gifted and a genius by any definition of the term, Maradona developed an almost superhuman ability to do with a ball what great artists do with a brush or composers do with music. ”
“Daily Mail”: “A genius in the square, a flawed idol beyond – Diego Maradona rose from the poverty of the slums of Buenos Aires and became one of the greatest of all timeeven if controversy followed him at every turn. ”
“The Telegraph”: “As a player, let alone as a man who lived a gloomy life epic, he was sui generis and conjured up a magic that no one could surpass. It is tempting to draw parallels across generations, but Maradona does best as flaming peculiarity to be celebrated. ”
Italy
“Gazzetta dello Sport”: “Maradona is dead: football is crying for now the greatest of all.”
“The Republic”: “Diego Armando Maradona had an absolute talent for two things: football and self-destruction. For a long time he played both at the same time, then he stopped the first and continued with the second until the expected final whistle at the sixtieth. ”
Spain
“The vanguard”: “Maradona’s sporting successes were often obscured by his wild personal life, drug addiction and alcohol addiction, arrogance and arrogance. But even then, he continued to receive great applause. Perhaps because he was unknowingly not just a great footballer in and outside of the football stadiums and the television world was, but also the star of a reality showwho accompanied him wherever he went. ”
“Sports world”: “Everything about Maradona was passionate, exaggerated and generous. But there was a great and magical Maradona on the pitch and another behind the curtain of football. (…) He performed miracles, so he is God, and the Argentines, who adore him to the point of delirium, know this. (…) However, the repeated doping and his self-indulgence eventually ruined his health and reputation. But before that, he proudly practiced solidarity with the most revolutionary forces on the Latin American left.
“AS”: “Outside of football, he has had a hard struggle with life. His temper made him reveal his soul through the ball and he got caught up in a self-destructive process that the world registered with regret. Still, he left us with so many disasters also a lot of classy things. He hit giants and stormed windmills, defended his truths, fought addiction, suffered more for his own people than for himself. His lousy days are a thing of the past. There will be no more bad news. Now that he’s walking hand in hand with (famous Argentine tango singer Carlos) Gardel, we can feel like children just by closing our eyes and calling out his miracles. ”
France
“Release”: “He was a true football virtuoso: In his best moments, Diego Maradona could make us doubt the rules of physics, even our own death. His dribbles, his deception maneuvers and his slaloms terrified the opponents. ”
“The Team”:“God is dead.”
Switzerland
“Look”: “Football is art. Not tactics. Nobody embodied that better than Maradona. Regardless of whether he or Pelé or Messi or Ronaldo is the best footballer of all time. The sport got poorer on November 25, 2020. And the world mourns. A great footballer to whom this sport owes an infinite amount. Because of people like Maradona, football has become the most popular sport in the world. You wish there was a ball for him in heaven. ”
Sweden
SVT: “A little boy from the slum with a tremendous talent and the good fortune to be seen by someone – that was Diego Armando Maradona. A player who ecstaticized a whole nation when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup. Maradona doesn’t die – he’s in every 10.”
Norway
NRK: “It is early for a ‘normal’ person to die by the age of 60. Diego Maradona, however, basically lived six lives in one. The Argentine legend wasn’t just one of the best players of all time. He was a trainer, commentator, ambassador and political supporter. For many, he was God too. Nobody gave football as much as he did. Now the most extraordinary life in the history of football is over. ”
Denmark
DR: “‘El Diez’ – the tenth – has passed away. He will probably forever be the greatest Argentine soccer star of all time – and that in a country that has spawned names like Messi, Di Stefano, Kempes, etc. But Maradona’s greatness cannot be measured by his great football technique. That earned him a place in the arena of the greatest, but he has a much deeper and greater meaning for Argentina than just the controversial status of the best player in the world. It’s about much more than football, it’s about the Argentine self-image. Now the hand of God is in heaven. ”
USA
“Los Angeles Times”: “Like the other famous Argentine export, tango, Maradona brought flair, passion and an undeniable sense of darkness to his sport and life. Few could match his art, skill and creativity on the pitch, but he could too a devious, angry player, off the field he was a swaying man with a tremendous appetitewhose excesses often took him to the hospital. ”
“Washington Post”: “By Mr. Maradona’s death, the world has one of their most talented athletes and one of their most tormented souls lost.”
“New York Times”: “At Maradona’s foot, the ball seemed to follow like a pet. It was said that he could do with an orange what others could only do with a ball. And he played with a kind of brilliant camouflage, apparently sleepy over long distances, only to then assert himself in important moments with fascinating dribbling, amazing passes or stabbing shots. ”
ESPN: “As massive as the Maradona legacy is on the field – and that includes titles in three different countries as well as leading Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup as captain – his charisma and echo off the pitch are possibly even greater.”
