By Victor Kanayo
Former Argentine mates of Diego Maradona on Friday gathered at the 2022 World Cup venue in Qatar to pay tribute to the icon on the second anniversary of his death.
They reminisced about brighter days as Argentina recover from their stinging upset by Saudi Arabia.
Maradona considered as one of the greatest players in history, died at 60 on November 25, 2020, after battling drug and alcohol abuse for years.
Despite his passing, Maradona remains very much present in the minds of Argentina fans. Scores still wear his jersey, sing about his “Hand of God” goal against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup and furiously debate whether comparisons to Lionel Messi are even appropriate.
At the CONMEBOL Tree of Dreams in central Doha, an area celebrating South American soccer, FIFA president Gianni Infantino greeted former team mates of Maradona, who took turns describing his greatness on and off the pitch.
Earlier on same day, Iran beat the odds to defeat Wales in the ongoing global soccer competition.
With the result, Wales’ first World Cup for 64 years looks set to end at the first hurdle after a heartbreaking loss.
As they did in their opening draw with the United States, Wales started poorly and had the video assistant referee (VAR) to thank for disallowing a goal from Iran’s Ali Gholizadeh for offside.
In one of the most highly charged atmospheres of this World Cup, Iran’s players sang their national anthem this time – having declined to do so before their opening loss to England in an apparent show of support for anti-government protests in their country, but their own fans booed the anthem and some could be seen crying in the stands.
Roared on by the fervent and almost entirely Iranian crowd, Carlos Queiroz’s side were extremely unlucky not to score early in the second half as Sardar Azmoun and Gholizadeh both struck the post within the space of a few seconds.
Wales were utterly ragged and, as they pushed forward in search of the late winning goal they desperately needed, a long ball over the top left the defence exposed and the onrushing Hennessey was shown a red card – after a VAR check – for a reckless challenge on Mehdi Taremi.
That set the seal on Wales’ fate for this match and, in all likelihood, their hopes of reaching the second round.
While Robert Page’s men were just as disjointed as they were against the USA, Iran were unrecognisable from the team thrashed 6-2 by England in their first match and fully deserved this win which breathes new life into their ambitions of progressing to the last 16.
Wales now face the formidable challenge of needing to win their final group match on Tuesday against England, who take on the United States later on Friday.
In another encounter, host Qatar lost 1-3 to Senegal in a match well dominated by the West African team.
