Tributes pour in for football great Maradona

CARLO HERMANN / AFP

Tributes have poured in from all parts of the world after football legend Diego Maradona passed away on November 25, following a heart attack.

Brazil's football great Pele said he was confident that one day he "will kick a ball together in heaven".

Argentina and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi described it as a "very sad day for Argentinians and for football" on Instagram.

"He has left us but he isn't going anywhere because Diego is eternal. I'll remember the lovely moments I experienced with him and I send my condolences to his family and friends," he wrote.

Portugal and Juventus Forward Cristiano Ronaldo also took to Instagram to post his tribute. 

"Today I say goodbye to a friend and the world says goodbye to an eternal genius. One of the best of our times. An unparalleled magician. He leaves too early but leaves a legacy without limits and a void that will never be filled. Rest in peace. You will never be forgotten," he wrote.

Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid coach, said it was "an enormous loss for the world in general but above all for football.

"What he did in the 1986 World Cup is engraved in my mind. We feel awful about what happened today, we are very sad."

FIFA President Gianni Indantino said: "Today is an unbelievably sad day. Our Diego left us. Our hearts – of all of us who loved him for how he was, and for what he represented – have stopped beating for a moment. Our silence, our tears, our pain is the only thing we are feeling deep inside us at this time.

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