Diego Maradona has spoken for the first time about his 12-day stay in hospital for heart and lung problems.
He said in a TV interview: "I want to thank the people who prayed for me. I saw death up close and I wanted them to cover me, to caress me.
"When God decides its time, I guess he'll come for us."
Maradona has taken refuge in a country house and only a few hours after leaving the intensive care unit, the former Argentina captain was seen on a golf course 30 miles from Buenos Aires.
Maradona was admitted to the hospital on April 18 with breathing and heart problems and was in intensive care for a week.
But on Thursday - despite the clinic's doctors saying he was not ready to go home - he discharged himself and left for the countryside.
Filed by James Boylan
