With the presence of the president of the AFA, Claudio Tapia, and the coach of the Under 20 National Team, Javier Mascherano, Diego Maradona was honored this Monday in L’Alcudia, Spain, with a bust that was presented while the classic youth tournament was being played soccer.
“This only strengthens the ties that COTIF (Organizing Committee of the International Football Tournament) and Spain have with Argentine football. COTIF has always been a luxurious setting for us, and now it is a pleasure to have also come with women’s soccer,” said Tapia, who previously met with some players from the National Team such as De Paul, Molina, Lo Celso and Correa.
The memory of the 10 was evoked in the run-up to the second commitment of the Argentine team in the traditional international tournament, against the representative Sub 20 of Valencia.
The artist Rafa Ferri was the author of the work with the figure of Maradona that was exhibited at the Els Arcs stadium.
The representatives of the different teams participating in the youth tournament gathered at the tribute to the former captain of the Argentine soccer team, champion in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, who died on November 25, 2020.
Then, Tapia received from the president of COTIF, Eliseo Gómez, a badge that made him an Honorary Member of the youth tournament.
The work inspired by Maradona will appear in each COTIF tournament, as a welcome for each of the participating teams in each edition. And as usual with this type of recognition, the comments about the arguable resemblance of the sculpture to Diego himself were immediate.