Argentina moved by ABs’ tribute to Maradona
Argentina captain Pablo Matera praised the All Blacks for their tribute to late football legend Diego Maradona before their TriNations test on Saturday night.
New Zealand captain Sam Cane laid down an All Blacks jersey with ‘10 Maradona’ – his regular playing number – imprinted on the back of it in front of the Pumas players prior to kick-off in Newcastle.
Maradona, one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game and Argentina’s most revered sportsperson, died last week.
‘‘I didn’t know [about the tribute] until I did the coin toss with Sam Cane and he told me about it,’’ Matera said.
‘‘I’m really thankful for that. Diego Maradona was obviously
huge for Argentina, so I’m really thankful for that gesture from the All Blacks.’’
Maradona died on Wednesday of a heart attack at age 60 in a house outside Buenos Aires. He had been recovering from a brain operation.
Matera said that Maradona’s passing had been a source of inspiration for many of the Argentina squad, although they were unable to replicate their historic win from two weeks ago as the All Blacks responded with a 38-0 victory.
‘‘Maradona was a guy who represented our country the best way you could represent us as a sportsman,’’ Matera said.
‘‘He’s been a huge inspiration for all of us: players, coaches, the people of Argentina.
‘‘So we always have him in our thoughts and we just want to represent our country the way he did.’’
Cane said they wanted to pay their respects to a ‘‘world legend’’ and that the idea for the tribute came from All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara.
‘‘Rugby is a game first and foremost that is built on respect I believe, and it was the respectful and right thing to do,’’ Cane said.
Meanwhile, there was a small hiccup in the pre-game ceremonies in the ‘ Welcome to Country’ when Aboriginal elder Uncle Bill Smith referred to the All Blacks’ opposition as the Netherlands during the ritual.