Maradona arrives to a rousing welcome in Kolkata

Football legend Diego Armando Maradona arrived on a two-day visit here early on Saturday and was welcomed by thousands of Kolkatans who gave sleep a miss and lined the roads for a glimpse of the Argentinean.

Football legend Diego Armando Maradona arrived on a two-day visit here early on Saturday and was welcomed by thousands of Kolkatans who gave sleep a miss and lined the roads for a glimpse of the Argentinean.

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People waved flags of India and Argentina, danced to the tune of foot-tapping Latin American music and raised slogans eulogising the "God of football" who touched down at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport at 1.25 a.m.

Kolkata, cricket crazy India's soccer crazy hub, saw passions run high as more than 50 thousand sports buffs assembled at the airport, and various street junctions leading to the hotel on the Eastern Metropolitan bypass where Maradona would put up.