The Argentine then lifted his shirt to reveal a red and black replica kit of his hometown club Newell's Old Boys bearing the number 10 which Maradona wore during his brief spell at the Rosario side in 1993.
Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was voted Player of the Year for last season by European soccer body UEFA on Thursday, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah with Lionel Messi fifth.
France will look to boss the midfield in a bid to limit supply to the lethal 31-year-old, who has struggled to impose himself in the tournament.
Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are in the running with Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
Barcelona pulled off a stirring comeback to overturn a two-goal deficit and reach the Copa del Rey final, beating Sevilla 3-0 after extra-time in Wednesday's semi-final second leg, to go through 3-2 on aggregate.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann appear among the 55 nominees for the FIFPro 2016 World 11 released on Friday but England forward Wayne Rooney failed to make the shortlist for the first time. Portugal captain Ronaldo, led his country to victory at Euro 2016, while France forward Griezmann was the top player at the tournament. It is the first time that 25-year-old Griezmann has made the cut, but England captain Rooney is absent for the first time in the competition's 12-year history, after England crashed out of Euro 2016 to lowly Iceland.
Goalkeeping howlers have been scarce at the World Cup but Fernando Muslera's mistake proved fatal for Uruguay in their 2-0 quarter-final defeat by France on Friday just as much as a brilliant stop from Hugo Lloris kept his side ahead.
France was always among the favourites but an underwhelming set of warm-ups plus a timid start suggested their reputation rang louder than reality
La Liga players dominate this year's Best Player in Europe shortlist, announced by the continent's governing body UEFA on Monday, with seven of the top 10 contenders for the prestigious award currently plying their trade in Spain.
Les Bleus' average age is 26 years old -- like England -- and Kylian Mbappe is 19, but it was he who ran riot after France fell 2-1 behind early in the second half.
The 19-year-old ravaged Argentina from start to finish in France's thrilling 4-3 win in Kazan
France decimated Iceland in a 5-2 win to end the Nordic nations Euro 2016 dream run in the quarter-final on Sunday.
Their skills are impressive on the field, and their looks easy on the eyes.
Following are comments, quotes and reactions from the French coach, players.
France coach Didier Deschamps was relieved to come through his side's 2-0 quarter-final win over Uruguay without losing any of his players to an unnecessary suspension, he said after Friday's match in Nizhny Novgorod.
Serge Gnabry scored twice as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 3-0, while Antoine Griezmann's second-half equaliser handed Barcelona a vital away goal and earned them a 1-1 draw at Napoli in their Champions League last 16, first leg on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona crushed Getafe 5-2 on Thursday to stay in the hunt for the La Liga title.
Barca, chasing a third consecutive Spanish title, are on 76 points after 35 games while Real Madrid are top with 77 and can restore their four-point advantage when they host Alaves on Friday.
And what an exciting week it has been, with players returning to packed stadiums, some memorable individual and team performances and a medical incident which had the world on edge.
Lionel Messi's fifth-place finish in this year's Ballon d'Or vote was absurd, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said of the Spanish champions' Argentina forward on Tuesday.
A statement from the club on Thursday said they had made record turnover of 990 million euros last season and projected an increase to 1.047 billion euros for the 2019/20 campaign.
The France striker was fouled by Leicester's Marc Albrighton on the edge of the box and referee Jonas Eriksson deemed the action to have continued into the penalty area.
'I haven't always expressed myself well. I said I would like to play with Neymar and Mbappe, but that doesn't mean I want to go to PSG'
Uruguay captain Diego Godin praised his team mates as 'lions' after reaching the World Cup quarter-finals but falling 2-0 to France
Pepe opened the scoring for Real with a looping header that flew past Jan Oblak in the 52nd minute and it looked like the hosts would earn three points to move five clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
France coach Didier Deschamps was more than just relieved after his team scored two late goals to beat a stubborn Albania team 2-0 on Wednesday and reach the second round of Euro 2016.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
The FIFA World Cup at Russia saw a variety of celebrations -- from the weird to some fancy dance moves -- Rediff.com has got it all covered here...
Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title for the first time since 2014
Atletico Madrid's faint hopes of chasing down runaway Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a fresh blow on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona, meaning they could fall 11 points behind the Catalans by the end of the weekend.
France's official shirt costs 85 euros, even for a child, according to the French Football Federation (FFF) website.
Barca, who were without injured talisman Lionel Messi, started on the back foot and fell behind when Nabil Fekir netted with a sublime angled strike in the 15th minute. Griezmann, who joined Barca last month from rivals Atletico Madrid, scored four minutes before halftime to level the scores.
Antoine Griezmann had plenty of painful memories to erase in Thursday's European Championship semi-final against Germany and he did that in style, scoring twice to lead the host nation to an historic 2-0 victory over the world champions.
Used to relying heavily on one key player for their European glory in the past -- Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane in the 1984 and 2000 tournaments respectively -- French fans have two talented players on whom to pin their hopes at Euro 2016.
Barcelona gave up more ground to Real Madrid in La Liga's title race on Tuesday after being held to a 2-2 draw at home to third-placed Atletico Madrid as a late penalty from Saul Niguez cancelled out Lionel Messi's 700th career goal. The draw meant the Catalans stayed second in the standings on 70 points and leaders Real Madrid, who have 71, will go four points clear at the top with five games left if they beat Getafe at home on Thursday.
Ronaldo's nomination comes after the 33-year-old last week denied rape allegations levelled against him by a woman who sued him in court in the United States.
France showed the full range of their attacking weapons as they continued their preparations for the World Cup in convincing fashion with a 3-1 win over Italy in a friendly on Friday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone rates Antoine Griezmann as one of the top three players in the world and says the forward owes it to his ability to work hard and the willingness to listen.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised the 'decisive' Antoine Griezmann after his two goals helped down Olympique de Marseille 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday and tried to convince the striker to resist the lure of Barcelona.
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