Argentina cancels games after death of fan Pope Francis
IMAGE: Lionel Messi had met Pope Francis at the Vatican in August 2013. Photograph: Kind courtesy Lionel Messi/Instagram
Captain of the Argentine national football team Lionel Messi paid an emotional tribute to Pope Francis late on Monday, with a message on social media.
“A different pope, close to us, Argentinean,” wrote the Inter Miami forward on Instagram, alongside a photo from their 2013 meeting.
“Pope Francis. Thank you for making the world a better place. We are going to miss you.”
Argentina’s football association postponed all fixtures on Monday to mourn Pope Francis, an ardent fan of the game and supporter of Buenos Aires’ San Lorenzo team.
“Argentine football says goodbye to you wrapped in deep sorrow,” the Argentine Football Association said of the decision to delay games in his homeland by a day.
A minute’s silence will be held at matches this week.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1936, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church died on Monday aged 88.
“Francis was not only a spiritual reference, but also a footballing one, and met with players, leaders and football legends, such as the captain of the Argentine national team Lionel Messi and Diego Armando Maradona,” the association said.
“He never hid his passion for football and his unconditional love for San Lorenzo de Almagro,” it added.
In a memoir, Francis spoke of Maradona’s controversial “Hand of God” goal in Argentina’s 1986 World Cup soccer quarter-final against England.
When Maradona visited him at the Vatican years later, “I asked him, jokingly, ‘So, which is the guilty hand?'” the pope recalled.
