Sports
Football legend Diego Maradona dies of heart attack
Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, has died of a heart attack at the age 60.
He died at home on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Matias Morlahas, barely two weeks after having surgery on a blot clot in his brain.
The Argentine news outlet Clarin broke the news on Wednesday afternoon, describing the news of Maradona’s passing as having a ‘worldwide impact’.
The sad news was later confirmed by Maradona’s lawyer. Soon, tributes were pouring in from all over the world of football.
Maradona left hospital on November 11 just eight days after he was admitted for emergency brain surgery.
The iconic former Argentinian footballer was driven away from the private Olivos Clinic just before 6pm on November 11 as hundreds of fans of photographers tried to get a glimpse of him.
Maradona was hospitalised the previous week and had to have an emergency operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Argentinian TV reporters travelling on motorbikes filmed the ambulance carrying him leaving before following the vehicle to transmit every inch of his journey.
His lawyer had said that the 60-year-old would continue to receive treatment for alcohol dependency.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time on the pitch, Maradona’s life off the pitch was equally notorious – amid battles with drug and alcohol addiction, dailymail.co.uk reports.
He won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, having knocked England out of the tournament in a match which saw him score the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal.
Maradona, who was the coach of Gimnasia Esgrima in his home country, had been admitted to hospital on several occasions since his retirement.
He almost died of cocaine-induced heart failure in 2000 and underwent years of rehabilitation.
Maradona, who was well known for having a wild lifestyle during and after his playing days, had a gastric bypass operation to lose weight in 2005.
He also fell ill at the last World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box when Argentina beat Nigeria in Group D.
Maradona began taking cocaine in the mid-1980s – during the height of his playing days, going on to develop an addiction to drugs and alcohol over the next two decades.
His drug use began in 1982 and reportedly grew worse in 1984 when he moved to Napoli and had connections with the Comorra.
In 2014, Maradona said of his drug use: ‘I gave my opponents a big advantage. Do you know the player I could have been if I hadn’t taken drugs?’
His first real punishment came in 1991 when he was banned for 15 months by Napoli after testing positive for cocaine.
Later in the same year, he was arrested in Buenos Aires for possessing half a kilo of cocaine, and was given a 14-month suspended sentence.
In 1994, Maradona was back in the fold with the Argentina national team, making headlines around the world for a now-famous screaming celebration into the camera lens after a goal against Greece.
His tournament was to come to an early end, though, after he was expelled days later for testing positive for five variants of ephedrine, a banned substance. He was banned for 15 months, ending his international career.
In 1995, he moved to Boca Juniors but two years later, he failed a drugs test for the third time in six years, putting an end to his playing career.
Officially, a ‘prohibited substance’ is all that has been revealed about that test, but Boca President Mauricio Macri has said in interviews that cocaine was found in a urine sample.
In 1996, Maradona said publicly: ‘I was, am and always will be a drug addict.’
In 2000, the football legend suffered an overdose, and in 2004 he had a heart attack.
A year later, he was forced to have gastric bypass surgery, and in 2007 he was back in hospital again, this time suffering hepatitis.
It is then understood he stopped taking drugs, telling a journalist in 2017 that he hadn’t taken drugs for 13 years and was feeling ‘great’.
He has been drinking alcohol since 2004, though, hitting the headlines at the 2018 World Cup for his bizarre antics at a number of Argentina games.
A video emerged of him drinking tequila on a plane, and he claimed he ‘drank all the wine’ ahead of their win over Nigeria.
Sports
La Liga: Real Madrid beat Sevilla to go second
La Liga: Real Madrid beat Sevilla to go second
Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde each scored first-half screamers as Real Madrid ended 2024 by beating Sevilla 4-2 at the Bernabeu.
The win moves Los Blanco’s to second place in LaLiga.
Real quickly established a 2-0 lead via stunning strikes from Mbappe in the 10th minute and Valverde in the 20th, and the rampant start continued with Rodrygo adding a third in the 34th minute.
Sevilla replied via Isaac Romero a minute later, before Brahim Diaz netted the hosts’ fourth eight minutes into the second half.
Dodi Lukebakio subsequently pulled another goal back for the away side with five minutes of normal time remaining.
After Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Barcelona on Saturday to replace the Catalan outfit at the top, this result saw Real leapfrog them as well.
Mbappe opened the scoring as he collected the ball from Rodrygo outside the box and sent a superb effort flying past Alvaro Fernandez.
And after the Frenchman miscued from a good position, skewing over the bar, Valverde doubled the advantage with a show-stopper from even further out, unleashing a 30-yard effort into the top corner.
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Looking eager to get in on the act next as Real continued to dominate, Rodrygo hit a drive wide, then added the third by sweeping home from Vazquez’s pass.
Moments later Sevilla had a goal back, Romero heading in from Juanlu’s cross, but Real were soon back on the attack as Vazquez was denied by Fernandez.
The visitors had further attempts with Nemanja Gudelj bending a shot over in first-half stoppage-time and Romero seeing one parried by Thibaut Courtois early in the second.
Real’s fourth then arrived when Diaz blasted in following good work in the build-up from Vazquez and Mbappe, who provided the assist.
After Romero hit a shot wide, there was applause all around the stadium as 39-year-old Sevilla skipper Jesus Navas came off the bench for his 705th appearance for the club and final one before retirement.
Rodrygo was thwarted by Fernandez soon after, Mbappe fired over and Romero then almost had his second as he hit a low shot against the post, having been teed up by Navas.
The final stages saw Mbappe and Sevilla’s Albert Sambi Lokonga both have shots saved, before Lukebakio slotted in at the near post for 4-2, Courtois getting a touch but unable to stop the ball going in.
Real are now two points ahead of Barcelona, who have played a game more than both them and Atletico.
La Liga: Real Madrid beat Sevilla to go second
(dpa/NAN)
Sports
EPL: Liverpool outscores Tottenham in nine-goal thriller
EPL: Liverpool outscores Tottenham in nine-goal thriller
Rampant Liverpool hit Tottenham for six to ensure they hold a four-point advantage at the Premier League summit come Christmas.
The Reds produced a masterful attacking display in north London with Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah on target twice in a 6-3 victory.
It was a thoroughly-deserved success for Arne Slot’s men and made it 21 wins in 25 matches since the Dutch coach replaced Jürgen Klopp this summer.
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Spurs – who had eight players missing – could not reach the energy levels of a midweek League Cup quarter-final triumph over Manchester United.
The London side were 5-1 down at one point before they rallied, but Ange Postecoglou’s side are 11th after an eight league loss of the season.
This was a dress rehearsal ahead of the League Cup semi-finals, but Liverpool were already assured of top spot at Christmas after Chelsea’s goalless draw at Everton earlier in the day.
EPL: Liverpool outscores Tottenham in nine-goal thriller
(dpa/NAN)
Sports
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus struck twice as Arsenal became the first side since Chelsea in 2005 to go a full calendar year unbeaten in Premier League London derbies, defeating Crystal Palace 5-1 to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to three points for the time being.
A hat-trick against Palace in a 3-2 EFL Cup victory on Wednesday earned Jesus a starting berth here, and it took just six minutes for him to reward Mikel Arteta’s selection.
A first Premier League goal since January arrived when Bukayo Saka’s cross bounced off Gabriel Magalhães, allowing Jesus to stride towards the ball and side-foot home. A nervy moment for David Raya went unpunished moments later, but just five minutes after going ahead, the Gunners were pegged back as the red-hot Ismaïla Sarr bent an effort around William Saliba and inside the far post.
A breathless start to the contest continued with a third goal in the opening 15 minutes, and perhaps predictably, it came from an Arsenal corner. This time, Gabriel Martinelli’s delivery was partially cleared, but only as far as Jesus, whose controlled finish flew into the corner.
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Another defensive lapse from the visitors almost saw the scores levelled once more, only for Raya to bail out Saliba with a one-on-one stop to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta. At the other end, Gabriel went close from yet another Arsenal corner before the away side extended their advantage through Kai Havertz, who reacted first after Jesus had nodded onto the far post.
Needing a response, the hosts were inches from reducing the deficit straight after the restart when Raya was equal to Sarr’s diving header. The Arsenal shot-stopper was then called into action again, getting behind Mateta’s rifled long-range shot and catching Sarr’s follow-up header.
Those saves kept the Eagles at bay, and with an hour played, the points were all but wrapped up. A well-worked move should have ended with Jesus’ second hat-trick of the week, yet Henderson saved well with his foot only to see Martinelli turn in substitute Declan Rice’s resultant low strike.
Determined to get on the scoresheet, Rice guided in Arsenal’s fifth goal late on, sealing three vital points in an evening where the only major blemish was Saka’s first-half injury.
Despite conceding in a seventh consecutive away league match – their longest travelling run without a PL clean sheet in over five years – Arsenal now find themselves within touching distance of the league summit, albeit having played more games than the sides above them.
Meanwhile, Palace had lost just one of their last eight PL fixtures (W3, D4), but defeat here means they’re yet to add to their solitary home league victory (D4, L4), leaving the Eagles 15th in the table.
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
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