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On Friday, in Cromwell Hospital in west London, the 59-year-old football legend, one of the most talented players of all time, George Best, passed away. The former star of the Northern Ireland national team did not survive after developing lung infection and internal bleeding.
G. Best, who spent a significant part of his life battling alcoholism, was admitted to the hospital at the beginning of October due to flu symptoms. His immune system was very weak against infections after the drugs used in a liver transplant surgery in 2002.
The former footballer, born in Belfast, had been in the intensive care unit for some time and recently, as his condition worsened greatly, doctors mentioned that G. Best would not survive long. The life of the legendary player, after a "long and very brave fight", as stated in the hospital's announcement, ended on Friday at 14:55 Lithuanian time.
G. Best was considered the best footballer of all time from the United Kingdom and one of the best in the world. The peak of Northern Irish glory came in the seventies, when he helped the "Man Utd" club win two English champion titles and triumph in the European Cup, and in 1968 was voted the best player on the Old Continent.
Starting his 17-year career at the "Man Utd" club at the age of 17, G. Best represented the team for ten years, playing 466 games and scoring 178 goals, and represented the Northern Ireland national team 37 times, scoring 9 goals. However, the young player who quickly became a superstar could not cope with fame and due to his careless life, at the age of just 27, abruptly ended his career.
However, after two years, Best returned to football and for a while, without much success, represented many unknown clubs, including teams from North America, until finally in 1983 he retired from football for good. Later, the legendary player plunged into an alcohol spiral, from which he could not escape, went bankrupt, divorced his wife, and eventually completely ruined his health, leading to his passing.
