Diego Maradona was put back on an artificial respirator Saturday.
Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title, has been in intensive care battling serious heart and lung problems for nearly a week.
The return to a breathing tube was meant to assist the 43-year-old former player with his breathing but did not mark any "worsening" of his health, a daily medical statement said.
Maradona remains in ``guarded condition,'' the statement said, adding his recovery would be ``slow and laborious.''
Doctors are treating the Argentine soccer idol with drugs for a heart inflammation and antibiotics for a lung infection.
The statement, released at the Suizo Argentina Clinic where Maradona has been since his hospitalization last Sunday, came a day after he was taken off the respirator for the first time. Word that Maradona had gone to using a plastic oxygen mask had raised cheers among many of his fans.
Maradona has been undergoing drug rehabilitation for cocaine abuse in Cuba. But authorities said the emergency hospitalization was not drug-related.
Maradona's daughters Dalma and Gianina asked Maradona's followers to pray for him and maintain quiet around the clinic.
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