The best tributes to Diego Maradona

Business

One year after the death of Diego Armando Maradona – the greatest footballer of all time – the tributes to his life continue to flood in from all over the world.

With that in mind, we decided to pick out nine of the very best tributes to the Argentine hero.

The Argentine Super League Cup was renamed the ‚Maradona Cup‘ shortly after the World Cup-winner’s passing. The final this past year was contested between Boca Juniors and Banfield – Maradona would’ve been glad to hear that it was Boca who won it.

After Maradona’s death celebrities, politicians, musicians etc. all paid tribute – however the one tribute that stood out above the rest was a lengthy letter written by French president Emmanuel Macron.

Macron hailed Maradona as „the undisputed owner of the ball, so loved by the French people“. Kind words indeed.

Well, there’s been plenty of these that have popped up in the last year.

A sculpture was erected in the Azteca Stadium to honour his astonishing solo goal against England, a square in Rio De Janeiro was named after him, and a statue was built in the Madres de Cities Stadium in Santiago del Estero. Just to name a few.

Along with statutes being erected, plenty of street were just downright named after Diego too. The Rio de Janeiro Street in Lanus because the ‚Diego Armando Maradona Street‘, as did streets in Berazategui and Merlo.

One of the most emotional tributes in the weekend after Maradona died was delivered by the All Blacks, who before their traditional ‚haka‘ offered a shirt to the Argentine rugby team in Maradona’s honour.

SSC Napoli v AS Roma - Serie ASSC Napoli v AS Roma - Serie A

SSC Napoli named their stadium after their greatest ever player / Francesco Pecoraro/GettyImages

The stadium where Maradona became a Serie A legend was rightly named after the former Napoli superstar immediately after his passing.

The club who found Maradona way back in the mid 70s have built a special room to house as much El Diego memorabilia as possible.

Giant Diego Armando Maradona murals, in the popular...Giant Diego Armando Maradona murals, in the popular...

Giant Diego Armando Maradona murals / Marco Cantile/GettyImages

There have always been murals of Maradona all around Naples and Argentina – and since his death even more have been painted to pay tribute to his greatness.

FBL-ESP-LIGA-BARCELONA-OSASUNAFBL-ESP-LIGA-BARCELONA-OSASUNA

Messi paying tribute to Maradona / J. BASSA/GettyImages

Basically every goal that was scored in the immediate aftermath of Maradona’s death was dedicated to football’s greatest ever – but none were more heartfelt than Lionel Messi’s. The superstar forward scored against Osasuna and then revealed a Newell’s Old Boys shirt with number 10 on the back.