Former football player Tomás Felipe 'El Trinche' Carlovich, considered by some football legends as one of the greatest Argentinian players in history, died on Friday at the age of 74 after failing to recover from the assault he suffered on Wednesday in the central province of Santa Fe.

"He was our idol. Today we are very moved. I still go to the stadiums in Buenos Aires and they ask me about him, about things he did 40 years ago. It was true that he became a legend," said Eduardo Bulfoni, president of Central Córdoba, the team where 'El Trinche' Carlovich became an idol.

The former midfielder was in intensive care and in an induced coma after being hit on the head by a young man who stole his bicycle last Wednesday in Rosario, his hometown.

"My dad had a new bicycle, but that is no reason to assault him, since he had also been robbed of four old bicycles before. Now he is unconscious in intensive care and in an induced coma," said his son Bruno Carlovich to Channel 5RTV.

Carlovich is considered an emblem of football in Santa Fe despite having played most of his career in lower divisions, and Diego Maradona recently gave him a shirt with the phrase: "Trinche, you were better than me."

"The football family / in mourning ... for the 'TRINCHE' ... the CRACK.... an urban legend ... different / neighborhood soccer .../ his way of leaving us = will increase his HISTORY .... RIP," wrote former football goalkeeper Jorge D'Alessandro on Twitter.

The deceased player began his career in the late 1960s in the youth teams of Rosario Central, and after a brief spell at Flandria in 1972, he arrived at the club where he became an idol, Central Córdoba, where he had various stages in his life.

He also played for other teams such as Colón de Santa Fe and Deportivo Maipú de Mendoza.

According to local media, the Rosarino achieved recognition during the preparation for the 1974 World Cup in Germany, when the senior national team, with figures like Mario Alberto Kempes, played a friendly match with a group of players from Rosario clubs, in which 'El Trinche' Carlovich stood out and his game remained etched in the Argentine football imaginary forever.