Lothar Matthaus, old rival and friend of Maradona, recalled his friendship with Diego. Photo: EFE / Zip
German Lothar Matthaus delivered this Thursday to Legends, the largest collection of memorabilia of international football, the shirt with which the Argentine Diego Armando Maradona played the final of Mexico World Cup 1986 from which the sample emerged.
“This important relic will have a perfect place in this museum. Diego Maradona was not only a great football legend, a friendship was born between us. He was unique, no doubt, Diego is recognized as a legend around the world and that is why it fills me with pride to be here today, “said Matthäus at the awards ceremony held at the Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Spain. .
“It was always a great honor to play him because he was simply the best; not only as a player, but also as a human being, he was a very important person to me. Too bad he is not here today, but Diego will always be present in our hearts and now also in the museum“, He continued.
A Legends project that will soon arrive in Madrid, in a building in Puerta del Sol of 4,200 m2 and seven floorswith a sample of finds of the four thousand kept by Marcelo Ordás, promoter of this initiative that began to take shape thirty years ago.
“Today is a day of great happiness, joy and gratitude. The battles for cultural heritage are the epic of a society struggling to preserve its culture, identity, values and history; and that’s what we’re doing here“, commented.
“Today we are united by the story of two legends. One, present here as Lothar Matthäus, and another who is present in our hearts, who is Diego Armando Maradona ”, he continued.
Those of us who love football leave us the taste of having seen the best German player of all time. Unusually in this materialistic world of immediacy and urgency, he felt from his generosity that he could bring this legacy to Legends. Matthäus proves that generosity reigns in him and above all he loves football, ”he praised.
A Maradona Mexico 86 shirt which he described as the most important relic in the history of football and which will be exhibited, in addition to Madrid, in Argentina, as it must be enjoyed by all Argentines.
The guest was Ricardo Alfonsín, ambassador of the Argentine Republic: “I simply have to thank them for allowing us to participate in this event and Matthäus for having selflessly donated Maradona’s shirt, his gesture speaks of his sportsmanship and his love for football. It is a great joy for everyone to have this shirt, ”she appreciated.
For its part, Claudio Tapiapresident of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), could not be present and sent a video: “I want to thank you, Marcelo, for this enormous achievement The armor of Maradona which means so much to Argentina. Lothar, thank you for the gesture of donating this shirt, ”he said.
The event was also attended by Óscar Mayo, general manager of LaLiga, which supports the Legends initiative.
“Just a year ago they told us about the Legends project. Maradona’s jersey is a real treasurelike the rest of the relics, and we did not hesitate a single second to do what was necessary together with Marcelo to build a football experience in Madrid and accompany him in his international career “, he assured.
Source: EFE
Source: Clarin
