MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maradona world's biggest mural unveiled in Buenos Aires

The painting is 45 meters high and 40 meters wide

On the day football legend, Diego Maradona was to have turned 62, thousands gathered Sunday in the Constitución neighborhood in Buenos Aires to see a mural dedicated to him unveiled.

The work was painted by artist Martín Ron and his team. It is 45 meters high and 40 meters wide and shows an image of Maradona at the beginning of the 1990 Italy World Cup final, in which Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany, angry with the local fans who were whistling the Argentine anthem.

”October 30 and November 25 (the date on which Maradona died) are dates where emotion, remembrance, wells up,“ said Sergio Goycochea, a former goalkeeper for the Argentine team. ”It's hard to talk about him passing away, about him not being here. I think the best way to refer to Diego is to do it in the present tense; as if he were here. The image on the mural is an emblem. They always choose photos of goals, but, in this case, they chose an image about the repudiation of how they treated us in the 90's World Cup when they insulted our anthem, about how they wanted us to lose.“

Sunday's event during which Maradona's career was reviewed was sponsored by the state-run oil company YPF as part of its 100th-anniversary celebrations. Over 20,000 fans chanted ”Diego, Diego,“ and insisted that ”he who does not hop is an Englishman.”

Also present at the event were Maradona's ex-wives Claudia Villafañe and Verónica Ojeda and his children Diego Fernando, Dalma, and Ganinna; as well as many of his former teammates.

Maradona was born Oct. 30, 1960, and passed away Nov. 25, 2020, while the world was under a COVID-pandemic lockdown.