BUENOS AIRES — The Argentina legend, Diego Maradona, regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time, reportedly suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest and passed away on Wednesday.

Argentine outlet Clarin reported on Wednesday that Maradona had passed away. Maradona was hospitalized earlier this month after undergoing surgery for a blood clot on the brain.

The surgery was successful but, just weeks later, Maradona passed away. The news was confirmed by ESPN Argentina and TyC Sports.

With his passing, football has lost one of its most legendary players. Maradona is most famous for inspiring Argentina to glory at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico.

Maradona 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.

The legendary forward also led unfashionable Napoli to two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990. After Maradona retired in 1997, he went into coaching and managed the Argentina national team between 2008-2010. He was in charge of Gimnasia de La Plata at the time of his untimely and tragic death.

Tributes, on Twitter, were pouring in from all over the world of football. Maradona left hospital on Nov. 11 just eight days after being admitted for emergency brain surgery.

England star Gary Lineker tweeted: “Reports from Argentina that Diego Armando Maradona has died. By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.”

Maradona, who was the coach of Gimnasia y 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 and was once more hospitalized two years later for alcohol-induced hepatitis.

He also fell ill at the last World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box when Argentina took on and beat Nigeria in Group D. — Agencies