Diego Maradona dies: Newspaper front pages pay tribute to a legend

Diego Maradona’s death made headlines across the globe as the world marked the passing of the Argentinian football legend.

The 60-year-old died in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, two weeks after being discharged from hospital having undergone a routine operation for a subdural haematoma.

After that news was announced by the Argentine Football Association, tributes flooded in for the Napoli great and on Thursday news of his death made front and back pages all over the planet.

Here is a collection of headlines on the day after Maradona’s death.

In his home country, the newspaper Cronica superimposed Maradona atop the World Cup trophy, back turned and walking away, under the headline “Adios” (goodbye).

Clarin ran a picture of Maradona holding the World Cup aloft, with the words “Conmocion mundial: murio Diego Maradona” (World upheaval: Diego Maradona dies).

Uruguayan outlet El Observador went with “A que planeta te fuiste” (Which planet did you go to?), in reference to his otherworldly talent.

 El mundo está conmocionado por la muerte de #Maradona.

 Preparamos una edición especial urgente, que queremos compartirte, con contenidos para recordar a una figura de alcance mundial y con muchos nexos con Uruguay https://t.co/egTT6N2PwR pic.twitter.com/N3NT9XDVmx

— El Observador (@ObservadorUY) November 25, 2020

El Pais, a Spanish newspaper, said the former Barcelona forward was “Un dios del football” (A God of football).

Also in Spain, Marca’s front page featured the words “If I die, I want to be reborn and I want to be a footballer… and I want to be Diego Armando Maradona again“.

“If I die, I want to be reborn and I want to be a footballer… and I want to be Diego Armando Maradona again”

Our front page is dedicated to the late, great Diego Maradona tomorrow

https://t.co/2QGxeF9iyS pic.twitter.com/rbPQcWh1a6

— MARCA in English (@MARCAinENGLISH) November 26, 2020

In France, L’Equipe ran a full front-page image of Maradona in his prime wearing the blue and white of his country, with a headline which declared “Dieu est mort” (God is dead).

Germany’s Kicker dedicated its front page to the news, putting the dates of Maradona’s birth and death under a picture of the star playing for Argentina.

La Gazzetta Dello Sport showed Maradona kissing the World Cup trophy and went with the words “Ho visto Maradona” (I’ve seen Maradona).

La #primapagina di oggi

HO VISTO MARADONA
La morte del dio del calcio
1960-2020#maradona #Ad10s #gazzetta #26novembre pic.twitter.com/5SsML1TuW7

— LaGazzettadelloSport (@Gazzetta_it) November 26, 2020

It was against England that Maradona scored his famous ‘Hand of God’ goal as he led Argentina to World Cup glory at Mexico 86. English newspaper The Sun was among the outlets to play on that phrase, coined by the man himself.

“In the hands of God,” read that publication’s front page, which featured an image of the incident as the diminutive forward beat England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to the ball. The paper described Maradona as “England’s World Cup nemesis and one of the all-time greats”.

The Mirror ran a similar headline, adding: “Diego Maradona, a hero, a villain, a cheat and a genius… dead at 60“.

Placing a little more emphasis on his achievements, The Times opted for a picture of Maradona celebrating that 1986 success in Mexico City, accompanied by the headline “Millions mourn Maradona’s death“.

And the Daily Express, using both the handball and trophy photographs, described Maradona as “the eternal, flawed genius”.