Barcelona, Spain
Lionel Messi honored his fellow Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona, who died last week of a heart attack at age 60, after scoring Barcelona’s fourth goal Sunday in a 4-0 La Liga win over Osasuna.
Following his curling left-footed shot past visiting keeper Sergio Herrera, Messi — who played for Maradona when he coached Argentina’s national team from 2008-10 — took off his Barca jersey to revel the black and red shirt Maradona wore during his time with Rosario, Argentina-based club Newell’s Old Boys, and pointed to the sky.
Maradona also played for Barcelona from 1982-84. Two years later, he led Argentina to the World Cup title with arguably the most dominant individual performance in tournament history. Before Sunday’s match, Barca honored the icon with a memorial ceremony at the Camp Nou:
Messi, who wears the same No. 10 for club and country as Maradona, helped Argentina to the World Cup final in 2014, but the Albiceleste lost to Germany in extra time.
Barcelona’s ceremony was one of just a number of tributes paid to Maradona, who like Messi is considered one of the greatest players of all time, in the days since his death. On Saturday, in the 10th minute of an Italian Serie A match between Juventus and Benevento, players on both teams stopped the game to cheer for the fallen star.—AP
