Maradona Cup: Barcelona FC and Boca Juniors to honour legendary Argentine footballer

Diego Armando Maradona needs no introduction with the Argentina player cementing his place among the great players to have played the game. The Argentina great played for different clubs which included clubs like Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli to name a few.  The 1986 World Cup winner passed away last November at the age of 60 and to honour the hero  Mardadona's two former clubs Barcelona and Boca Juniors will play each other in the 'Maradona Cup' on December 14 in Saudi Arabia.

All you need to know about Maradona Cup

Diego Maradona passed away on November 25, 2020, and to honour him the match between Boca Juniors and Barcelona will be played at Mrsool Park, in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, which holds 25,000 spectators. The match will be screened both on Barça TV and via the club’s Barça TV+ streaming service Both the teams have met each other ten times in the past, with the recent meeting being at the Joan Gamper Trophy in 2018, which Barça won 3-0. This will be the second time the club has played in Saudi Arabia, after the country hosted the Spanish Super Cup in 2020, and which it will be doing again in January 2022.

Diego Maradona goals, coaching career and accolades

Diego Maradona first played for Boca Juniors in the 1981/82 season, winning Metropolitano Championship and earning qualification for the Libertadores Cup. He made a comeback to the club from 1995 to 1997, his final two seasons before retiring as a player. Coming to his career at FC Barcelona, Diego Maradona appeared for Barcelona for two seasons from 1982 to 1984 and made 58 appearances. During that period, Diego Maradona won three titles, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup and the now-defunct Spanish League Cup. Talking about Diego Maradona stats the forward played 490 official club games during his 21-year professional career, scoring 259 goals; for Argentina, he played 91 games and scored 34 goals.

Diego Maradona was awarded the FIFA Player of the 20th Century Award in December 2000, sharing the prize with joint winner Brazil’s Pele. He also donned the role of Argentina’s coach during the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. He became the coach of Primera Division Club Gimnasia de La Plata from September 2019 before his unfortunate death in November 2020.

Image: Barcelona/ Boca Juniors/ Instagram