The diminutive Argentine left Naples almost 30 years ago, but his spirit never departed, with a giant mural of him still staring down on the traffic-clogged streets and his photograph placed alongside images of saints in shop windows.
"He was unique, he represented everything, everything for us Neapolitans", fan Gianni Autiero told Reuters while tearfully looking at the gigantic portrait of Maradona which adorns the facade of a 10-storey apartment bloc.News of Maradona's death on Wednesday drew thousands of stunned Neapolitans into the evening streets in defiance of a coronavirus lockdown, and the grief showed no sign of abating as day broke.
Maradona came to Naples, a city suffused with sun and superstition, in 1984 when he was 23 for a then world-record $7.5 million contract. Over the next seven years, he helped perennial underdogs Napoli to their only two Serie A titles and their sole major European trophy.
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