Lionel Messi: Argentine’s emotional Diego Maradona tribute set to cost Barcelona
- Lionel Messi removed his shirt after he scored against Osasuna just to pay tribute to Maradona
- The Barcelona captain revealed a Newell’s Old Boys shirt of the football icon to replicate his famous celebration
- Messi was shown a yellow card and reports further claim his club will be fined
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Lionel Messi scored a sensational goal in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday, November 29 and then paid an emotional tribute to late Diego Maradona while he celebrated.
Latest reports have it that Barcelona could cough-up as much as to €3,000 after the club captain pulled his shirt to reveal a Newell's Old Boys one with Maradona's iconic No. 10 on the back.
Before he retired, Maradona had a brief stint with Newell’s where Messi had spent six years before his famous move to Spanish club Barcelona.
Messi earlier disclosed that he had little memories of watching the legend at Newell’s - when he told TyC Sports in 2013 that he was in the stadium for Maradona's debut in 1993 as cited in Mirror. He said:
"I don't remember much, I was very young, but I saw Maradona on the pitch the day he made his debut against Emelec."
In that game, Maradona scored his only goal for the club and Messi tried to imitate the same celebration following his goal against Osasuna.
The Barcelona star was immediately shown a yellow card for removing his shirt with reports further claiming that Barcelona will be fined by the RFEF.
Source: Getty Images
The Barcelona captain then took to Instagram to post image of the celebration side-by-side with that of Maradona to stun the fans.
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman called Messi's tribute a "great moment in every way" after the game, saying:
"It was a great moment. First, for the goal that Leo scored and then for the gesture he had for the death of Diego Maradona.
"He had surely been thinking of what he would do. For me, it was a great moment in every way."
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that African football family has been thrown into mourning as former Senegal star Papa Bouba Diop has been confirmed dead.
The defender who also doubled as a defensive midfielder was said to have died at the age of 42 after battling with a long time illness.
He scored the only goal that helped the Teranga Lions stun the current world champions France at the 2002 edition of the FIFA World Cup - one of the biggest shocks in football history.
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Source: Legit.ng
