Lionel Messi pays homage to Diego Maradona after criticism from late legend's son

Argentina football team captain Lionel Messi took to his official Instagram handle on Friday and paid a tribute to legendary footballer Diego Maradona on his second death anniversary. Maradona left for his heavenly abode on November 25, 2020 after suffering a cardiac arrest while recovering from a brain surgery that took place earlier that month. The Argentine is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, who also served as the manager of the national team.

Lionel Messi’s tribute to Diego Maradona

Meanwhile, on the occasion of the legend’s second death anniversary, Messi shared a picture of Maradona from his playing days for Argentina. However, the 35-year-old didn’t put any caption on the Instagram story. This comes days after Maradona’s son Diego Sinagra criticized the iconic player, following Argentina’s 1-2 loss against Saudi Arabia in the team’s FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign opener in Qatar.

Lionel Messi was subject to heavy criticism after Argentina’s loss vs Saudi Arabia 

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner scored the opening goal for Argentina in the match by converting a penalty in the 10th minute of the match. However, Argentina went on to lose against the No. 51-ranked team in the FIFA rankings as Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari scored for the team. Argentina’s loss resulted to be one of the biggest upsets the FIFA World Cup has witnessed in recent years. 

Speaking about Argentina’s loss to Radio Marte, Maradona Jr. said, “I'm devastated by Argentina's defeat. I find it hard to believe that this actually happened. Losing to Saudi Arabia is crazy. I don't want to throw the cross at Lionel right away. Sometimes in football, it happens that you lose even against much weaker opponents. I don't think Argentina was presumptuous today. Football is like that. If you don't close the games, even the poorest teams will come at you”.

Argentina will now clash against Group C rivals Mexico at the Lusail Stadium on Saturday night in a bid to get their campaign back on track. Ahead of live action on November 26, Argentina is placed at the bottom of the group standings, while Saudi Arabia sits at the top. Mexico is currently third in the points table, level on points with second-placed Poland.