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Football: Barcelona and Napoli lead tributes to former star Maradona

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Peter BERLIN, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/11/30/fb1.jpg"/><figcaption>FC Barcelona&#x27;s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their fourth goal wearing a Newell&#x27;s Old Boys shirt in reference to former player Diego Maradona.<em> Albert Gea, Reuters.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>PARIS, France -- Clubs across Europe continued to pay tribute to Diego Maradona on Sunday with particularly poignant moments in Italy and Spain where the Argentine played.</p><p>Maradona, who played two seasons for Barca, one for Sevilla and spent seven mostly glorious years at Napoli, died on Wednesday aged 60.</p><p>Barcelona played on Sunday afternoon while Napoli held an elaborate and emotional tribute before their game in the evening.</p><p>Before Barcelona faced Osasuna, the club played &#x27;The Song of the Birds&#x27; by Catalan cellist Pablo Casals as the teams stood around the centre circle where a Maradona shirt was laid on the centre spot.</p><p>Lionel Messi, who has inherited Maradona&#x27;s legendary Argentina number 10 shirt, bowed his head.</p><p>Flags at the Camp Nou flew at half mast, Maradona&#x27;s image was displayed on every screen and digital advertising hoarding, while a club official held a framed Maradona Barcelona shirt.</p><p>Messi got his goal in the 74th minute with a dazzling strike that sealed a 4-0 victory.</p><p>The Argentine picked up the ball in midfield, danced past two defenders and smashed a rising left-foot shot into the top far corner.</p><p>He celebrated by pulling off his Barcelona shirt to reveal a vintage Newell&#x27;s Old Boys jersey from Maradona&#x27;s one season with the club in Rosario, Argentina. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It&#x27;s all about number 🔟.<br/><br/>The best player in the world and his tribute to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/D10S?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#D10S</a> ❤️🖤<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DiegoEterno?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DiegoEterno</a> ♾ <a href="https://t.co/JZhkZgX9jx">pic.twitter.com/JZhkZgX9jx</a></p>— Newell&#x27;s Old Boys (@CANOBoficial_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/CANOBoficial_en/status/1333062242535960579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2020</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Earlier this week, Newell&#x27;s tweeted a photograph from Maradona&#x27;s debut showing a six-year-old local prodigy, in a similar black and red shirt, doing ball tricks for the crowd at half-time. That boy was Messi.</p><p>&quot;It was a great moment,&quot; said Koeman. &quot;Leo&#x27;s goal, his gesture dedicated to Maradona.</p><p>&quot;It was something very big. We Europeans don&#x27;t realise how big Maradona is in Argentina.&quot;</p><p>On Friday, Koeman said the best tribute his team could pay Maradona was to &quot;show what we can do on the pitch&quot;.</p><p>In Italy, in addition to the minute&#x27;s silence, players stopped to applaud for 60 seconds as Maradona&#x27;s picture appeared on the stadium screens in the 10th minute.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;I felt like crying&#x27; -</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/11/30/fb2.jpg"/><figcaption>Napoli&#x27;s Lorenzo Insigne celebrates scoring their first goal while paying tribute to Diego Maradona. <em>Ciro De Luca, Reuters.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Maradona&#x27;s former club Napoli thumped Roma 4-0 following a fitting tribute for the player who led the club to their only league titles in 1987 and 1990 and the UEFA Cup in 1989.</p><p>Napoli wore a jersey reminiscent of Argentina&#x27;s for their first league game since his death.</p><p>The club said the launch had been in the works for the past year.</p><p>Captain Lorenzo Insigne, who curled in a free-kick after half an hour, celebrated his goal by holding up and kissing Maradona&#x27;s iconic No. 10 shirt.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s sure these days after Maradona&#x27;s death have given us an extra boost, our idol has passed away and it hurts,&quot; said Insigne.</p><p>&quot;Today we wanted more than usual to perform and get a result, for him and for the whole city that is suffering. We dedicate the victory to him.&quot;</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="it">Ciao Diego! 💙<a href="https://t.co/qoxpLLGisX">pic.twitter.com/qoxpLLGisX</a></p>— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) <a href="https://twitter.com/en_sscnapoli/status/1333176003657691144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2020</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>The Stadio San Paolo is expected to soon be renamed after the 1986 World Cup winner following a suggestion made by the Mayor of Napoli.</p><p>In Rome, Lazio&#x27;s players took to the pitch with special edition &#x27;AD10S&#x27; jerseys in honour of Maradona but lost 3-1 to Udinese, for whom four Argentine-born players followed Koeman&#x27;s advice.</p><p>Roberto Pereyra set up the first goal, then Rodrigo De Paul provided assists for the next two, scored by Ignacio Pussetto and Fernando Forestieri.</p><p>After his goal, Pussetto opened his hands wide, to form 10.</p><p>&quot;This victory is for him,&quot; said Forestieri. &quot;After the goal I felt like crying. Diego was the greatest of all time.&quot;</p><p>In Germany, Bundesliga clubs observed a minute&#x27;s silence before games. In England, players applauded for a minute.</p><div><br/><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Clubs across Europe continued to pay tribute to Diego Maradona on Sunday with particularly poignant moments in Italy and Spain where the Argentine played.</p>

Clubs across Europe continued to pay tribute to Diego Maradona on Sunday with particularly poignant moments in Italy and Spain where the Argentine played.

Football: Barcelona and Napoli lead tributes to former star Maradona

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Football: Barcelona and Napoli lead tributes to former star Maradona

Peter BERLIN,

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 30, 2020 09:08 AM PHT

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football

Diego Maradona

Barcelona

Napoli

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