Diego Maradona may have hung up his boots back in 1997 after 2 decades of enthralling fans all over the world, but he is still the centre of attraction for fans at the World Cup in Russia 2018.
He has played all over the world – his native Argentina, Spain, Italy – and is currently plying his trade as a manager in the United Arab Emirates.
He played in four editions of the FIFA World Cup, including captaining his side to glory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He won the Golden Ball and scored two of the most talked-about goals in the history of the game, interestingly both in the same match against England.
It is no surprise that he has a huge fan following, and as he was watching Argentina’s match against Croatia in Nizhny Novgorod he met a young fan and posted a video chronicling their meeting on Friday, titled ‘With my Russian friend Daniyar’.
The young boy was seen ecstatic on meeting his idol and could not hold back his tears, as he repeatedly hugged Maradona.
As the match started Maradona was seen kissing a Lionel Messi shirt, twirling it and signing the national anthem aloud along with thousands of Argentines and eleven more on the pitch in Novgorod.
By the final whistle as Argentina crashed to a 3-0 loss, Maradona went from waving a No. 10 Messi shirt to wiping tears out of his eyes, slumped in his seat.
Maradona had led the rebellion against Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli after the draw with Iceland, the smallest nation ever to compete at a World Cup, saying: “Playing like this, Sampaoli cannot ever go back to Argentina, his tactics were a disgrace.”
Argentina play their last game against Nigeria on Tuesday at the Saint Petersburg Stadium, and they must win handsomely to keep alive their hopes of making the knockout stage. La Albiceleste are staring at an embarrassing group stage exit, but Maradona will be cheering on Messi and the boys as they get ready to battle the odds.