Chinese fans mourn Maradona, share memories about Argentine soccer great

He returned to China in 2008 to witness Argentina and Lionel Messi grab gold at the Beijing Olympics. Two years later, he once again visited China to attend a 10-day charity tour.

Maradona expressed high hopes for Chinese soccer's development on multiple occasions. He urged Chinese youngsters to "seize the opportunity of training in Argentina and draw more experience from the Boca Juniors' youth program to help develop the game in China", in a July 2014 China Central Television interview while visiting a training camp involving Chinese players at Boca's base in Buenos Aires.

He encouraged China to keep investing in the game to return to the World Cup Finals to match its status as one of the world's strongest economies.

"Now I realize that Maradona went beyond soccer. He's a global icon of passion, happiness and the spirit of fighting against the odds. Many people can find the spirit of what Maradona stands for in themselves," Chinese sports reporter Miao Yuan said on his social media account.

"In a time when we have mass production of all kinds of idols, I miss Maradona even more. It's lucky for us and the world soccer community to have had a player like Maradona."

Many Team China and Chinese Super League players and coaches shared their feelings about the legend's death. Former Chinese international Fan Zhiyi posted a photo of Maradona celebrating after winning the World Cup with the note, "Farewell, Maradona".

CSL side Dalian Pro head coach Rafa Benitez said on social media: "Sad news for football today. I will never forget so many afternoons of glory. Rest in peace, Diego. Legend."

Guangzhou Evergrande head coach Fabio Cannavaro and Shanghai SIPG's Brazilian star Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, known as Hulk, also posted Maradona's photo on social media to honor the legend.

Another trending topic on Chinese social media on Thursday was "Fathers' reaction after Maradona's death". Fans shared their fathers' stories of watching Maradona's matches decades ago and how their fathers' passion for Maradona and soccer influenced them. Many fans commented online that their fathers fell silent or even cried after learning the sad news.

"I was 22 when the 1990 World Cup was held. My arm was accidentally cut by glass when my classmates and I were trying to find seats in front of a TV to watch Argentina's match," said sports commentator Su Qun, sharing his memory of Maradona on social media.

"There's still a scar on my arm. My friends said that it's a scar of true love. Maradona will be in my memory forever. Sports and life bring us happiness as well as sorrow."