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Leave it to Diego Maradona to lure fans to a stadium they couldn’t enter.
Thousands of Naples supporters made a pilgrimage to San Paolo Stadium on Thursday to light a candle, leave a scarf or shirt and shed tears in memory of their hero.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans were not allowed in to see Napoli’s 2-0 victory over Croatian team Rijeka in the Europa League.
Instead, Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne walked out of the stadium and joined the fans for a few minutes to drop a bouquet of flowers alongside the tributes from the supporters.
The entire city has been declared in mourning for the great footballer, who died of a heart attack on Wednesday at age 60, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery.
Maradona led Napoli to their only two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and is considered a divine figure in the southern city.
“He’s always stood up for us, both when he played here and after he left,” said Insigne, who hails from Napoli. “He has always carried us in his heart. And now we’ve got to carry him in our hearts since he’s gone. It hurts. It is a sad day for us Neapolitans.
“The entire team and club are supportive of the family,” added Insigne. “He was the greatest player of all time and we are honored that he wore the Napoli jersey and played in this stadium.”
The mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, announced earlier that he has started the official process to rename San Paolo the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.
In the meantime, an image of Maradona adorned the large screens inside the stadium during the game against Rijeka.
All of Napoli’s players stepped out on the pitch dressed in jerseys with Maradona’s No.10 and name on the back, before changing numbers before kick-off. Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso also donned a Maradona jersey.
“He is dead but he will never die,” Gattuso said. “Because he’s a legend.”
Both teams wore black armbands and stood for a minute of silence in the center circle before the start of the match. The Napoli players intertwined their arms.
Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli said: “We are all shocked and injured.”
Napoli won with a goal against his own side of Armando Anastasio prompted by Napoli midfielder Matteo Politano before the break and a second-half score from Hirving Lozano.
“Let’s try to win a trophy,” Politano said, “to dedicate it to (Maradona).”
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More AP football: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf
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