Argentina: Diego Maradona to undergo brain surgery

BOGOTA, Colombia

Diego Maradona had successful surgery for a blood clot in his brain, his doctor said late Tuesday.

"Diego is awake, he is very well. He has a little drainage that we are going to remove tomorrow. He tolerated the surgery very well,” said Leopoldo Luque. “He is lucid and awake and the time he stays in the hospital will depend on his evolution.”

A subdural hematoma, where a blood clot is formed on the surface of the brain, is usually caused by a head injury, but the former soccer player does not remember any event that could have caused it.

Doctors said he will rest in the clinic outside Buenos Aires for at least 48 hours.

Maradona was admitted Monday to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata, one hour from Buenos Aires, but was transferred to the Olivos clinic where the surgery was performed late Tuesday. He was initially admitted because of dehydration and anemia.

The former soccer player, who turned 60 last Friday, is considered one of the greatest players of all time.

He won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, where he scored his most famous, and infamous, “Hand of God” goal with his left fist in the quarterfinals against England. He then scored another goal, considered among the greatest of all time, during the same match. Argentina won the match 2-1 on the road to a World Cup victory.

Maradona has lived in La Plata since the end of 2019, when he became the manager of Gimnasia y Esgrima.