Goa Minister Lobo to personally install Maradona statue to inspire football loving youth

Diego Maradona, perhaps the greatest footballer of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 60, following a cardiac arrest, two weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. In order to inspire the youth in Goa who love football, the state's Science and Technology minister Michael Lobo said that he will install a life-size statue of Diego Maradona in his personal capacity in the coastal belt of North district.

'Maradona's statue is already under making'

"I, not the Goa government, will install the statue of Diego Maradona in the coastal belt of North district to inspire Goan youth," Lobo, who represents Calangute constituency, told news agency ANI over the phone. PTI quoted the minister saying that   "Maradona's statue is already under making with a Maharashtra-based artist working on the mould and it will be an actual-size statue as tall as the late footballer."

Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed condolence over the demise of the football legend. 

The office of Argentina's President will decree three days of national mourning because of Maradona's death on Wednesday, and the Argentine soccer association expressed its sorrow on Twitter. Maradona has been admitted to hospital three times in the last 20 years for serious health issues -- two of which were potentially fatal -- due to his drug and alcohol addictions.

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Famed for the "Hand of God" goal in which he punched the ball into England's net during the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal and also the "goal of the century" in the very same match, Maradona captivated fans over a two-decade career with a bewitching style of play that was all his own. Maradona won titles at home and abroad, playing in the early 1980s for Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors before moving on to Spanish and Italian clubs. His crowning achievement came at the 1986 World Cup, captaining Argentina in its 3-2 win over West Germany in the final and decisive in a 2-1 victory against England in the feisty quarterfinal match in which he scored the two memorable goals mentioned above.

European football's governing body UEFA announced that Maradona would be honoured with a minute's silence before Wednesday's Champions League games. Maradona married his long-time girlfriend Claudia Villafane in 1984. They had two daughters, Dalma and Gianinna, and divorced in 2004. He also had a son, Diego Junior, born in Naples in 1986, although he only acknowledged paternity in 2004.

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(With agency inputs)