THOUSANDS descended last Thursday on the presidential palace of Casa Rosada, where the body of Diego Maradona lay in a closed coffin draped in the Argentinian flag and jerseys of the national team and Boca Juniors.

The night before, people emerged onto balconies in the humid Buenos Aires air to applaud and chant his name, while crowds gathered at the Bombonera — the stadium of Boca — and the Obelisk, a historic monument and popular site for football celebrations and political protest.

Inside the palace, mourners filed past the coffin; chanting, praying and crying. Outside the crowd began to swell. Some began to scale the palace gates, and the gendarmerie were deployed to guard the entrance and suspend access to the wake.