Messi’s heartfelt tribute on the anniversary of Maradona’s passing | OneFootball

This Tuesday, November 25, marks five years since the passing of Diego Armando Maradona. Various institutions and personalities from around the world remembered his figure on this special day, and Lionel Messi did not stay out, making an emotional post.

The post was made through Instagram stories. Specifically, it is a black and white image of him with Diego, embracing under the framework of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, where they were player and coach, respectively, of the Argentine National Team.

In 2022 and 2024, Messi used the same social media channel to express his tribute. First, he focused on posting just an image of Pelusa at the 1986 World Cup, while last year he added the word "eternal" to a photo of Diego with the world tournament trophy.

"A very sad day for all Argentinians and for football. He leaves us but does not go away, because Diego is eternal. I cherish all the beautiful moments shared with him and wanted to take the opportunity to send my condolences to all his family and friends. RIP," wrote the Rosario native in an Instagram post on November 25, 2020.

In 2021, he also turned to a feed post. The chosen photo is from before the South American Qualifiers match against Chile. That night was the first match of the Argentine National Team after Diego's death, so all the players took to the field with a special shirt that had the number 10 and a patch with the photo of the Ten and the legend "1960-∞".

For La Liga in Spain and with Barcelona's colors, Messi paid tribute to Maradona after scoring a stunning goal against Osasuna, the first match after his passing. Under the blaugrana jersey, he wore one from Newell’s from the time Pelusa played for Lepra in 1993, which he revealed after his goal while pointing to the sky. In 2023, in an exclusive interview with TyC Sports, he revealed how the event unfolded.

"The night before the match I was lying in bed with Antonela (Rocuzzo) and I said: ‘I have to do something…’ And I have a museum section with trophies and jerseys upstairs. So I went to see what was there, looking for one from the National Team or something of his. I went up and found that the little door that is always closed, this time was just open. On a chair, there was the number 10 of that Newell’s jersey. I went in and saw it. I don’t know why it was there. I didn’t even remember I had it. I saw it like that and said: ‘That’s it,’" said La Pulga.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.