Maradona tributes around the world
Even rugby All Blacks find emotional way to honour Argentine great
Around the globe, teams paid tribute to Diego Maradona on Saturday, with moments of silence before European soccer games and a touching gesture by New Zealand’s rugby team.
The death of the Argentine great was still being felt three days after he had a heart attack at the age of 60 outside Buenos Aires, where he had been recovering from brain surgery.
Manchester City and Burnley players and coaches stood and applauded as a video showed Maradona’s famous solo run and goal for Argentina against England in the quarterfinals of the1986 World Cup. The “Hand of God” goal was earlier in that game.
“This week, we lost a true footballing great. Diego Maradona was everything football should be: expressive, exciting, attacking and free,” City manager Pep Guardiola said in the team’s matchday program.
“A unique, once-in-a-generation player who brought joy to so many people,” he added. “Football will never forget Diego.”
City and Burnley players warmed up to the song “Live is Life” by Austrian band Opus. That’s the tune Maradona warmed up to before one of Napoli’s UEFA matches in 1989.
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti struggled to hold his emotions together. He made the sign of the cross and kissed his finger after a tribute before their match against Leeds. Ancelotti played against Maradona in Serie A and later went on to manage Napoli. Maradona led Napoli to its only two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and is considered an icon in the southern city.
Tributes were ongoing across Serie A this weekend. The warm-up song was also played in Italian stadiums. All Serie A players took the field wearing a black arm band, and a minute’s silence was being observed before each kickoff, with players lined up around the circle.
The Italian league observed a minute’s silence before matches, projecting an image of Maradona on stadium screens and projecting the message “Ciao Diego” on the stands — which, like most stadiums in Europe, are empty because of coronavirus restrictions.
At the 10th minute of each Italian match, an image of Maradona was projected again, in honour of his jersey number.
Napoli will host Roma on Sunday. Thousands of Napoli supporters made a pilgrimage to San Paolo Stadium on Thursday to light a candle, leave a scarf or a shirt and shed some tears in memory of their hero the day after his death.
Across Germany’s Bundesliga, teams stood for a moment of silence and images of Maradona were shown on stadium screens, including one of the Argentine raising the World Cup trophy in 1986, after beating West Germany in the final.
The tributes weren’t limited to soccer.
Before their rugby Tri Nations test against Argentina, New Zealand captain Sam Cane presented an All Blacks jersey with Maradona’s name and familiar number 10. As the All Blacks lined up to perform the haka, Cane stepped out, walked toward midfield and laid down the jersey as Argentine players stood arm-in-arm and watched.
“It was a gesture, a token, of paying our respects to an Argentine legend, a world legend in his field as well,” Cane said after the match, which New Zealand won 38-0.