Homage to the legend; team Argentina commemorates Diego Maradona

Buenos Aires: Members of the Argentine national football team commemorated Diego Armando Maradona at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday, two years after his death.

Paying tribute to the legend, Lionel Messi, the team captain and football superstar uploaded a story to Instagram with a photo of the legendary football star wearing his number 10 blue and white jersey.

Manager Lionel Scaloni noted, "it is a very sad day," referring to Maradona's anniversary, during a press conference ahead of Saturday's match against Mexico in Qatar, reports Xinhua.

"We hope to bring him joy tomorrow if he is watching from heaven," he said, adding that "it seems unbelievable" that Maradona "is not here."

Striker Lautaro Martinez commented that the squad is "thinking very much" about the greatest Argentine World Cup figure, who led Argentina to the championship in Mexico 1986 and to the runners-up in Italy 1990.

"He was a very important person to Argentina, but also to world soccer. It is a sad day for all of us and hopefully tomorrow we can bring him some joy," Martinez said.

Maradona died on November 25, 2020 of a heart attack at home at the age of 60, after brain surgery for a subdural hematoma.

After the surprising defeat to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the World Cup 2022, Argentina are to face Mexico on Sunday at Lusail stadium, Qatar.

-IANS Inputs