AFP, Paris :
On the first weekend of sporting action since the death of Diego Maradona, sports, leagues and teams round the world on Saturday paid tribute to the Argentine football great.
Those who knew or had played with or against Maradona, who died aged 60 on Wednesday, added poignant emotion to the commemorations often held in stadiums without fans.
In Valencia, former Argentina and Sevilla team-mate Diego Simeone, clapped during the minute’s silence before his Atletico Madrid team won in the empty Mestalla. In Liverpool, Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti, who faced Maradona in Serie A, teared up as the players clapped. Even without fans to spoil a silence the Premier League has opted for a minute’s applause instead. “He was my opponent and he became my friend,” Ancelotti said on Friday. Saturday’s tributes started on a rugby pitch in Newcastle, Australia, where New Zealand rugby captain Sam Cane laid an All Blacks jersey emblazoned with Maradona’s name and shirt number, 10.
On the first weekend of sporting action since the death of Diego Maradona, sports, leagues and teams round the world on Saturday paid tribute to the Argentine football great.
Those who knew or had played with or against Maradona, who died aged 60 on Wednesday, added poignant emotion to the commemorations often held in stadiums without fans.
In Valencia, former Argentina and Sevilla team-mate Diego Simeone, clapped during the minute’s silence before his Atletico Madrid team won in the empty Mestalla. In Liverpool, Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti, who faced Maradona in Serie A, teared up as the players clapped. Even without fans to spoil a silence the Premier League has opted for a minute’s applause instead. “He was my opponent and he became my friend,” Ancelotti said on Friday. Saturday’s tributes started on a rugby pitch in Newcastle, Australia, where New Zealand rugby captain Sam Cane laid an All Blacks jersey emblazoned with Maradona’s name and shirt number, 10.
