The southern Italian city of Naples exploded into what was shaping up to be a long night of celebrations on Thursday as local team Napoli secured their first Serie A soccer title in more than three decades, sweeping away years of disappointment. The late Maradona is also still revered, celebrated on fans' t-shirts, banners or tattoos, and on a giant mural in Naples' Miracles Square that has become a major attraction in the countdown to the Scudetto.
Argentina-born Pope Francis, who died on Monday, is being honoured at his local hometown soccer club in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo de Almagro, where the football-loving head of the Roman Catholic Church remained a member during his 12-year papacy.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Andreas Brehme, whose late penalty in the 1990 final against Argentina in Italy handed Germany their third world title, has died at the age of 63
FIFA says it 'strongly rebukes' Argentina great Diego Maradona's comments that England's win over Colombia was a robbery
They were two small Argentina players with the same enormous challenge -- to meet the expectations of a soccer-mad country. Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi have both proved themselves to be skilful giants on the world soccer stage despite their diminutive frames of 1.65 and 1.70 metres respectively.
An estimated 10,000 Napoli supporters, including the team's most famous player Diego Maradona, are expected to make the trip to the Spanish capital for the first competitive meeting with Real Madrid since the 1987.
It is a very different victory of Maradona that fascinates me even more, notes ad guru Sandeep Goyal.
The cases made on both sides came with a host of subtexts: the Argentine versus the Brazilian, the man of the people versus the establishment figure, the party animal versus the quiet man, and the rebel versus the conformist.
He was among the millions left speechless by Sachin Tendulkar's farewell speech and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said the retired legend can only be compared to football great Diego Maradona when it comes international sporting icons.
The trend has generated a wave of social media memes and satire, and even the creation of an app that allows you to track where to get the coveted stickers. New stock has been selling out in a matter of hours.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Born in Buenos Aires in 1936, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church died on Monday aged 88.
'It's useless trying to make a leader out of a man who goes to the toilet 20 times before a game'
Two of the most intimidating strikers in world football, Argentina's 35-year-old Lionel Messi and Poland's 34-year-old Robert Lewandowski, line up against each other on Wednesday with a last 16 place at stake in the World Cup.
The storyline underpinning the match for most of the world is whether Lionel Messi can get his hands on the trophy in his fifth attempt to finally lift himself up alongside, never above, Diego Maradona in the hearts of his nation.
'It was a signal really, because it was the first goal in a tight game. When he cheated, a lot of the players as well as me complained... I was chasing the referee. But it stood.'
Napoli celebrated their second Italian title in three years -- and fourth overall -- after a thrilling battle with Inter whose 2-0 win at Como following goals from Stefan de Vrij and Joaquin Correa left them one point adrift of their rivals.
An Argentine football club has recreated the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling of its gymnasium, with Diego Maradona as God, Lionel Messi as Adam and a host of angels that include Mario Kempes, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Batistuta.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The autopsy, which was based on blood and urine samples and released by the Buenos Aires Scientific Police, said Maradona had problems with his kidneys, heart and lungs.
IMAGES from football matches played across European Leagues on Saturday.
The Argentine forward's glittering resume has one major omission -- a World Cup winner's medal.
Lionel Messi's passionate performances at the Qatar World Cup are earning him oodles of love from Argentines, but their old favouritism for Diego Maradona may resurface unless he brings home the trophy on his final attempt.
Soccer fans watch the telecast of the World Cup game between Argentina and Saudi Arabia on a Kolkata street with the God Of Football (Diego Maradona holding the 1986 World Cup trophy poster) to keep them company.
Barcelona talisman has become just as dangerous from dead ball situations too
Messi's Instagram post with the Copa America trophy has become the platform's most-liked sports photograph.
With Argentina looking dysfunctional and under-performing throughout the qualifiers, Messi's dream of matching Maradona in Russia always looked a tall order.
Several thousand Argentinians are expected to descend on Qatar for the tournament starting next month but not all are having an easy ride.
Scenes from the champion team's homecoming...
Antonella Roccuzzo and her children stole the show during Argentina's 2022 World Cup last 16 clash against Australia on Saturday night.
Diego Maradona's Argentina finally clinched a place in the 2010 World Cup finals following a tortuous qualifying campaign with a 1-0 away win over bitter rivals Uruguay on Wednesday.
Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho will visit to Kolkata in October.
Lionel Messi does not need a World Cup winners' medal to be considered among soccer's all-time greats, fellow Argentine Diego Maradona has said.
Olympic golds medal-winning coach Sergio Batista was poised on Monday to succeed Diego Maradona and lead Argentina to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Croatia's euphoric media ran out of superlatives as they hailed the Balkan nation's stunning World Cup win over Argentina which propelled them into the competition's knockout stages for the first time since the 1998 tournament when they finished third.
Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi and defender Fabricio Coloccini missed out when Diego Maradona named his 23-man Argentina World Cup squad on Wednesday.
A summary of Monday's action in LaLiga and Serie A.
Diego Maradona disregarded the vast experience of Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso and 136-cap record holder Javier Zanetti when he named his 30-man provisional World Cup squad on Tuesday.
Global sales of soccer gear were up more than 700% for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar versus the 2018 World Cup in Russia across the Fanatics network of online stores.
