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Diego Maradona Holds Lionel Messi Shirt In The Air And Kisses It

Diego Maradona Holds Lionel Messi Shirt In The Air And Kisses It

He wants his successor to do the business against Croatia...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Diego Maradona held up the shirt of Lionel Messi and kissed it as he waited for his beloved Argentina to kick off against Croatia at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium.

The two have of course been universally compared, with the 1986 World Cup winner frequently changing his opinion on the five-time Ballon d'Or.

But today, El Diego gave his heir to the throne the seal of approval from his box ahead of the game - imitating Messi's legendary El Clasico celebration against Barcelona after he scored his 500th career goal.


Greatness recognises greatness.

After almost single-handedly dragging La Albiceleste to the finals in Russia, Messi and Argentina endured a difficult opening game against Iceland, who were excellent defensively and gave everything to hold Jorge Sampaoli's side to a draw in the World Cup debut.

Messi was denied by part-time film director Hannes Halldorsson from the spot in the second half, with the Iceland stopper later describing it as "a dream come true" after guessing right for the Barcelona star's 24th career penalty miss.

Like Maradona, we're all hoping Messi does the business against Croatia in Argentina's second, must-win game.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Croatia, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Argentina, World Cup