The football world has gone into mourning after the death of Argentinian football legend Diego Armando Maradona, with tributes pouring in from all over the globe.
Long considered one of the greatest players, the 60-year-old superstar who led his country to a World Cup title in 1986 died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack in the city of Tigre.
Here’s how the world reacted:
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning, expressing his sorrow for the loss and thanking Maradona “for having existed”.
“You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of all. Thanks for having existed, Diego. We will miss you for a lifetime,” he said on Twitter.
Nos llevaste a lo más alto del mundo. Nos hiciste inmensamente felices. Fuiste el más grande de todos.
Meanwhile in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, where he has long been worshipped as “El Dios”, the God, people began pouring onto the streets gathering in the San Andres neighbourhood where he lived and also in La Plata where he had lately been technical director for local team Gimnasia y Esgrima.
Argentinian football superstar Leo Messi, widely seen as the best active player in the world, said that this was a “very sad day for all Argentines and football”.
“He has left us but he will never leave us because Diego is eternal. I will keep all the beautiful moments that I lived with him and would like to send my condolences to all his family and friends. RIP.”
Retired Brazilian football star Pele, considered by many as the only player to have come close to Maradona’s skill level, was among those to express his sorrow.
“Sad news today. I have lost a dear friend, and the world has lost a legend,” Pele, 80, wrote on Instagram, alongside a picture of Maradona hoisting the World Cup trophy in 1986.
“There is much more to say, but for now may God give his family strength. One day, I hope, we will play soccer together in the sky.”
Portugal and Juventus superstar Christiano Ronaldo described Maradona as an “unparalleled magician”.
“Today I say goodbye to a friend and the world says goodbye to an eternal genius. One of the best of our times. An unparalleled magician. He leaves too early but leaves a legacy without limits and a void that will never be filled. Rest in peace. You will never be forgotten,” he said on Instagram.
Victor Hugo Morales, Argentina’s most popular sportscaster, said Maradona will ultimately be remembered for a thrilling style of play that has never been duplicated.
“He has been one of the great artists of my time. Like great masters of music and painting, he has defied our intellect and enriched the human spirit,” Morales said. “Nobody has thrilled me more and left me in such awe as Diego.”
Former England striker Gary Lineker hoped Maradona will now “finally find some comfort in the hands of God”, he said on Twitter, referencing the Argentinian’s infamous “hand of God” goal in the World Cup quarterfinal match against England in 1986.
“By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time,” he added, posting in another tweet a video showing the two players meeting in 2006.
Italian football club Napoli, where Maradona played from 1984-1991, said it was impossible to describe the sadness felt after the news of Maradona’s death broke.
“What words can we use [to describe] a sorrow as the one we are living through? Now is the moment of tears. Then there will be the moment for words,” it said on Twitter.
Tutti si aspettano le nostre parole. Ma quali parole possiamo usare per un dolore come quello che stiamo vivendo? Ora è il momento delle lacrime. Poi ci sarà il momento delle parole. Diego ???? pic.twitter.com/mjwhrSczPG
Maradona was adored in Napoli after taking the team to two Serie A titles. Videos on social media showed people in the southern city mourning the football star in front of murals depicting Maradona.
Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora, a native of Naples, also paid tribute to Maradona.
“The death of Maradona is terrible news. He was more than a champion, he was a football genius, an absolute champion,” Spadafora said. “In an unrepeatable season he represented the dreams and hopes of the people of my city. Naples is crying tonight.”
French footballing great Michel Platini said, “a bit of our past has gone”.
“I am very sad. I am nostalgic for what was a wonderful era,” Platini, who starred for France in the 1980s and played for Juventus against Maradona’s Napoli, told French radio station RTL. “Diego left a mark on my life.”
The Argentinian Football Association, through its president Claudio Tapia, expressed its deepest sorrow. “You will always be in our hearts,” it said on Twitter.
La Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, a través de su Presidente Claudio Tapia, manifiesta su más profundo dolor por el fallecimiento de nuestra leyenda, Diego Armando Maradona.
Maradona also played for the Spanish team Barcelona for two years starting from 1982.
“Thank you for everything Diego. FC Barcelona expresses its deepest condolences regarding the death of Diego Armando Maradona, a player for our club (1982-84) and an icon of world football,” Barcelona said in a statement.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales praised Maradona as a person who “fought for humble people”.
“With pain in my soul I have learned of the death of my brother, Diego Armando Maradona. A person who understood and fought for humble people. The best player in the world.”
Con un dolor en el alma me he enterado de la muerte de mi hermano, Diego Armando Maradona. Una persona que sentía y luchaba por los humildes, el mejor jugador de fútbol del mundo. pic.twitter.com/7cNMtRTRHG
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Diego Maradona’s legacy to football.
“There was a banner in Argentina one time I read years ago, it said: ‘It doesn’t matter what you have done with your life, it matters what you have done with our lives.’
“There are a few incredible players in all of history, he is one of them. For people of our generation, the World Cup in ’86 in Mexico was something which made this sport better.”
Boxer star Mike Tyson also paid his respects for the football player saying he was both a hero, and a friend.
The Hand of God, Maradona has left us. In 86 we both won our championships. They use to compare the two of us. He was one of my hero’s and a friend. I respected him so much. He will be greatly missed. pic.twitter.com/E5j6DSfJas
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
