Messi dedicates goal to Maradona

Lionel Messi paid tribute to Diego Maradona who passed away from a heart attack on Wednesday with a goal celebration despite a yellow card.

Twenty-eight minutes into the second half of the La Liga 11th round game of CA Osasuna held on Sunday in Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, Messi scored the fourth and the final goal of his team, which was leading the game 3-0. After celebrating with his teammates, Messi started walking alone for a bit and took off his shirt. Messi blew a kiss to the sky with his arms raised up. It was meant for the late Maradona. He knew that taking off his shirt during a goal celebration would cost him a yellow card, but didn’t care.

The players of FC Barcelona, for which Maradona played from 1982 to 1984, put a shirt carrying No. 10 in the middle of the ground before the game on the day to pay tribute to the late footballer. Messi left a short post after the game, featuring Maradona and himself wearing Newell's Old Boys’ shirt.

The two Argentinian football geniuses shared a long history, despite the age gap. Maradona who also wore N0. 10 on his back as Messi was glad to call Messi his “avatar” for being left-footed and extremely talented. Messi was also honored to be described as “Maradona 2.0.”


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com