Adios Diego: Argentina weeps for favorite son Maradona amid chaos

'Hand of God'

Despite an earlier announcement extending the lying-in-state by several hours, officials shut the doors, and riot police clashed with stone-throwing fans on streets around the palace, arresting several people.

The outrageously skillful Maradona, widely remembered for his "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals, died of a heart attack while recovering from brain surgery.

"He was the best in the world, we're going to miss him and his death broke our souls," said Diego Armando Cabral, a 29-year-old bricklayer in Buenos Aires who was named after the legend.

Tributes poured in from around the world following the star's death.

His career and life were sometimes tainted by a loose interpretation of the rules of the game and a crippling addiction to cocaine and alcohol.

Lionel Messi, Argentina's modern-day superstar, led the tributes as he said: "He has left us but he will never leave us because Diego is eternal."

Brazilian legend Pele, 80, constantly compared with Maradona in the debate over football's greatest player, said he hoped they would one day "play together in the sky".

Maradona, born into poverty in Lanus, just south of Buenos Aires, on Oct 30, 1960, also played for Argentine clubs Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors, as well as Spanish giants Barcelona before becoming a hero in the working-class southern Italian city of Naples.

Agencies via Xinhua