Diego Maradona has died at age 60

Diego Maradona, the legendary soccer player from Argentina who is considered one of the greatest players of all time, has died, per multiple reports. While some reports indicate that the cause of death is unknown, others are reporting he suffered a cardiac arrest. Maradona was 60.

This is a huge loss for the international sporting community. Maradona was the co-winner of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century Award, along with Brazilian superstar Pele, and was revered for his combination of elite skill with tremendous vision and creativity. Maradona was also known as being a bigger than life personality, and was arguably the most well known athlete in the world for much of the 1980s.

Maradona is perhaps best known for his performance in the 1986 World Cup, which was won by Argentina with Maradona as the team captain. The quarter-final match against England, in which Maradona scored both goals in Argentina’s 2-1 win, saw Maradona score the first goal of the game by punching a loose ball into England’s goal. While that should have been a penalty and a yellow card, with the goal disallowed, the referees didn’t have a clear view of the play, and thus the goal stood. After the match, Maradona said that he scored the goal a little with his head, and “a little with the hand of God.” The iconic incident has since become known as the “Hand of God” goal.

While this is not baseball related, the passing of one of the greatest players in the history of the biggest sport in the world is pretty noteworthy, and I think worth mentioning in a post here.