Matthäus returned the historic apparel at a ceremony at the Argentina Embassy in Madrid.
Diego Maradona’s jersey from the 1986 World Cup final was returned to Argentina on Thursday thanks to German footballing legend Lothar Matthäus. The former Bayern Munich midfielder, who had swapped jerseys with Maradona at halftime of the final where the La Albiceleste won in México, has returned the historic apparel at a ceremony at the Argentina Embassy in Madrid.
The jersey will be exhibited at a new football museum in the Spanish capital. “It was always a great honour to play against him,” Matthäus said about the late Maradona. “As a player and a person, he was always someone very important to me. He will always be in our hearts.”
Like Matthäus’ gesture, tributes for Diego Maradona still continue as an aeroplane dedicated to El Pibe de Oro was unveiled in May 2022 which will travel around the world and their journey at the World Cup in Qatar later this year starting in November. The plane is a Tango D10S which is a 12-seater sponsored by an Argentine fintech company - Give and Get.
The aeroplane is designed to be a flying museum as a tribute to the former World Cup winner, who passed away because of a heart attack in November 2020. It also has a picture of Maradona kissing the World Cup trophy on the fuselage, while his face is also on the tail.
Gaston Kolker, CEO of Give and Get while talking to Reuters addressed the plane. He said, “I am mad about Maradona, one of those people who still watch videos of Diego before I go to sleep at night. This is the first World Cup without Maradona and maybe the last with (Lionel) Messi. I said, I want to make Diego’s plane, I want to make Diego’s plane. And so we launched Tango D10S.”
“When Maradona’s teammates saw it, the World Cup winners from 1986, they were amazed, they were hypnotized by the aircraft,” Kolker said during the unveiling event with other members from that World Cup-winning side. Maradona's daughter Dalma also talked about the plane and said, “We can't believe or understand this craziness, the love involved. "How far will fans go? As far as a plane.”
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