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Maradona
Let Diego Maradona lead the fans to a stadium they couldn’t get into. Thousands of Naples fans made a pilgrimage to the San Paolo stadium on Thursday to light a candle, leave a scarf or a shirt and shed a few tears in memory of their hero. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans were unable to enter to watch Napoli’s Europa League match against Croatian Rijeka.
Instead, Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne left the stadium and joined the fans for a few minutes to leave a bouquet alongside the fans’ tributes. The entire city was declared in mourning for the great footballer, who died on Wednesday of a heart attack at age 60, two weeks after being discharged from a hospital in Buenos Aires after brain surgery. Maradona led Napoli to their only two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and is considered a divine figure in the southern city.
“He always defended us, both when he played here and after he left,” said Insigne, who is from Naples. “He always carried us in his heart. And now we have to carry him in our hearts since he left. It hurts. It is a sad day for us Neapolitans.” “The entire team and club are supportive of the family,” added Insigne.
“He was the best player of all time and we are honored that he wore the Napoli jersey and played at this stadium.” The Mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, previously announced that he has started the formal process to change the name of San Paolo to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. Meanwhile, an image of Maradona graced the giant screens inside the stadium during the match against Rijeka.
All Napoli players took to the field wearing jerseys with Maradona’s number 10 and his name on the back, before changing to their own numbers before kick-off. Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso also donned Maradona’s jersey. Both teams wore black armbands and stood for a minute of silence in the center circle before the game began.
The Napoli players linked their arms. Napoli’s sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli said: “We are all shocked and injured.”
