Thursday 28 June 2018 10:55, UK
Diego Maradona was "shocked" by the attention his World Cup health scare received, insisting: "I am very much alive".
The 57-year-old, who captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986, revealed he ignored advice from a doctor to go home at half-time while watching his nation's 2-1 win over Nigeria on Tuesday.
His presence at Argentina's matches in Russia this summer has attracted attention from stadium crowds and TV cameras, with Maradona seen animated in the stands.
But he played down concerns over his health after appearing to require assistance to walk from his seat overlooking the pitch in a video posted by Mexican journalist Fernando Schwartz.
Maradona denied being hospitalised and said he had felt neck pain. He demonstrated his good health with an appearance on Telesur's 'De La Mano del 10' programme.
"I was shocked that (reports suggested) there had been a stretcher, an ambulance," said Maradona. "Nothing happened.
"We were all together, the Telesur team and my team, and we could not believe how social networks started to make a big lie, which made no sense, go viral like that.
I am very much alive.
"It makes me a bit angry, because my sister, yesterday she made me whistle on the phone to see if I was okay, and I went (whistles).
"'What else do you want me to do?' I asked her.
"My brother in Italy, my nephew in the United States were worried, because of course the bad news travels much faster than the good news.
"I am very much alive, and very well taken care of."
Maradona was criticised for his conduct as he made obscene gestures following Marcos Rojo's late winner against Nigeria.
