Under his shirt, pizza shop owner Guillermo Rodriguez is a walking shrine to Diego Maradona. His entire back is covered in tattoos depicting the soccer great, whose death last week at the age of 60 inspired enormous grief in Argentina and beyond.
“It is something beautiful to live with him, so for us he did not die, he will continue being there for all of us, the love we have is eternal,” said Rodriguez, whose pizza store is called “Siempre al 10”, referring to Maradona’s jersey’s number.
The death of Maradona has highlighted the almost cult-like adoration that grew up around the player nicknamed “el dios” (or God), who mesmerised on the pitch and inspired fans off it despite long, public battles with addiction.
Argentina declared several days of national mourning for him and his body lay in state at the presidential palace.
“For a woman in childbirth it is very painful. For me I felt that pain the day that Maradona died. The grief is enormous,” said Cintia Veronica, who showed tattoos of Maradona on her arm, at her home in Buenos Aires.
