‘Eterno’: Lionel Messi’s Note For Diego Maradona On His 4th Death Anniversary – News18
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Messi shared an iconic picture of Maradona on his Instagram story to commemorate the fourth death anniversary of the Argentine legend.
Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona. (X)
Argentina captain Lionel Messi shared a one-word message in honour of Diego Maradona on his fourth death anniversary on Monday, November 25. Messi dropped an iconic picture of Maradona on his Instagram story. The Argentine legend was captured smilingly adoring the FIFA World Cup trophy after their historic win in 1986 in Mexico. Messi shared the treasured photograph with a simple but powerful caption– “Eterno” (Eternal). While Maradona led Argentina to their second World Cup triumph, Messi replicated his success in Qatar in 2022.
The 1986 campaign remains one of the top highlights in Maradona’s illustrious career. He had 10 goal contributions in the tournament including five goals and as many assists. Maradona also received the Golden Ball Award after Argentina registered a 3-2 win over West Germany in the final.
His best performance of the 1986 World Cup came in the quarter-final against England where Maradona struck two goals. The first one was the controversial “Hand of God” while the other one was a brilliant solo effort that ripped apart the English defence.
When Messi emerged on the international scene, he was tipped to be a successor to Maradona. The former Barcelona man has been able to match the expectations by leading Argentina to World Cup glory. He scored seven goals and provided three assists during the Qatar campaign to secure his second World Cup Golden Ball after 2014.
Italian club Napoli, where Maradona had spent seven years, also paid tribute to him on his death anniversary. Fans and officials of the clubs marked their presence at the murals of the Argentina great across the city. The sky was lit up with blue smoke, with chants of Maradona echoing from the streets of Napoli.
A massive crowd was spotted below the huge mural of Maradona in the Quartieri Spagnoli which also acts as his unofficial museum. Napoli coach Antonio Conte, captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and president Aurelio De Laurentiis were also part of the gathering as they laid flowers in front of the memorial.
Maradona recorded 115 goals and 74 assists for Napoli and became the Serie A champion twice in 1987 and 1990. The club’s home venue was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after he died of a heart attack in November 2020.
