“You are immortal. You will never die. You will always live in my heart. I love you.”
These are the heartfelt words with which Carlos Tevez reacted to the death of his great hero and mentor Diego Maradona last week. The Argentine pair shared a special kinship which encapsulated allegiances to club and country, as well as a shared passion for the game. Adored by fans of the national team and their beloved Boca Juniors alike, it is easy to see why these two footballing mavericks developed such a powerful bond.
Following Lionel Messi’s touching gesture of revealing Maradona’s Newell’s Old Boys jersey under his own during Barcelona’s game with Osasuna, Tevez provided his own tribute on Wednesday night to the man he referred to simply as the ‘king of kings’.
Beautiful tribute to Diego Maradona from Lionel Messi pic.twitter.com/Q06ZOSJjGl
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 29, 2020
After scoring the first goal for Boca against Internacional in the Copa Conmebol Libertadores game at Beira-Rio Stadium in Brazil, Tevez removed his shirt to reveal Maradona’s version of the famous Azul y Oro. It is the jersey ‘El Diego’ wore in his first stint at the Xeneizes, when he won a league title with the club in 1981.
👏 ¡La emoción de @__CarlitosTevez, el homenaje a Maradona y un momento que @BocaJrsOficial guardará para siempre en la #Libertadores! pic.twitter.com/eC2hAexNg6
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) December 3, 2020
It’s just a pity that the referee couldn’t let this one slide and produced a yellow card to caution the former Manchester United and City player for his ‘celebration’. We know ‘rules are rules’ but no one would have complained if he’d have made an exception in this very exceptional and unique circumstance.
