Argentines caught between love and indifference for Maradona

If striker Victor Osimhen manages to lead Napoli to their first Italian Serie A title in more than 30 years, he believes he will become a club "icon".

However, the 24-year-old Nigerian said he would not be able to reach the status of late Argentine great Diego Maradona, whom he called a "demi-god".

Maradona remains Naples' biggest soccer hero. He led the local team to their only two league titles in 1987 and 1990, and their stadium is named after him.

"I don't consider myself as an icon yet until I achieve the objective which the club has set itself for this season," Osimhen said while picking up an award in Rome.

However, if Napoli win the scudetto, he said: "I think (I) have a very big chance of being named an icon."

But, he added, "it wouldn't compare to what Maradona has done for this club."

With 13 games to go, Napoli are odds-on for Serie A glory, having a huge, 15-point advantage over second-placed Inter Milan.

Winning would be a huge lift for the city in Italy's poorer south, where fans are passionate about the club. Some street hawkers are already selling mementoes in Napoli colours and with a "three" on them in anticipation of a third title.

Shops are also selling cakes and Easter eggs decorated with Osimhen's trademark face mask, which he wears on the pitch following a face injury.

"It's been 33 years since the last scudetto," Napoli Chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis said.

Another title "could make the city go crazy, I think it is already going crazy and planning (a party) which could involve two or three million people," De Laurentiis said.

Osimhen, who is in his third season at Napoli after previous stints in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg and in Ligue 1 with Lille, is Serie A's top scorer this season with 19 goals.

In Rome, where he was given a prize by the Foreign Press Association, he hinted at future move to England's Premier League.

"I'm working so hard to make sure that I achieve my dream of playing of course in the Premier League some day," he said, adding that for the moment he was focused on the Serie A.

The ball that Diego Maradona used to score his infamous "Hand of God" World Cup goal for Argentina against England in 1986 will go under the hammer next month and could fetch up to £3 million.

Bidding will start on November 16 but prospective buyers can register online from October 28, London-based Graham Budd Auctions said, adding it anticipates the ball to sell for £2.5-£3 million (up to $3.4 million).

"With the history surrounding the ball, we are expecting this lot to be hugely popular when it comes up for auction," Graham Budd, chair of the auction house, said in a statement.

The 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England saw a heated build-up because of political tensions following the Falklands war and came to be defined by two contrasting goals scored by the late Maradona.

For the first one, Maradona ran into the box, rose with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net.

He later said the goal had been scored "a little with the head of Maradona, a little with the hand of God".

The second came just four minutes later as Maradona sped past five English defenders and Shilton to score the "Goal of the Century", according to a 2002 FIFA poll.

Argentina won the grudge match 2-1 after referee Ali Bin Nasser let Maradona's controversial first goal stand, and the team went on to win the World Cup.

"This ball is part of international football history, it feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world," said Bin Nasser, the owner of the ball.

In May, the jersey Maradona wore in the quarter-final sold at auction for nearly $9.3 million, more than twice the value predicted by Sotheby's.

But the record-setting sale for sports memorabilia worn on the field was surpassed in September when basketball legend Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA finals jersey sold for $10.1 million.

Maradona died aged 60 of heart failure in November 2020.

France managed to overcome mistakes and imperfections in their World Cup final victory over Croatia with sheer mental strength to lift the trophy for the second time, coach Didier Deschamps said on Sunday.

France overpowered Croatia 4-2 to lift the trophy and Deschamps became only the third man, after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and German Franz Beckenbauer to win it both as player and coach.

But they were made to sweat for about an hour and needed an own goal and a penalty to take the lead.

"My greatest source of pride is they had the right state of mind," Deschamps, who had captained France to the 1998 title, told reporters.

"Today there were imperfections, we did not do everything right but we had those mental and psychological qualities which were decisive for this World Cup."

France took the lead from a Mario Mandzukic own goal and they had to soak up a sustained Croatian offensive, including a 28th-minute equaliser, before going in front with a penalty.

They then struck twice midway through the second half to put the game beyond the Croats.

Deschamps said 14 of his players were World Cup newcomers but were ready to work towards a common goal and were mentally more mature than their age.

"Talent is not sufficient. You need the psychological and mental aspects. Any team is then able to climb mountains," Deschamps said.

"Sometimes I can be hard very hard with them but I do it for them and even though they are young they usually do listen."

Among the newcomers are Kylian Mbappe who was voted young player of the tournament and scored France's fourth goal.

"The collective is always important but there are individual players who have made the difference," he said, naming Mbappe and man-of-the-match Antoine Griezmann.

"Those 23 players will now be linked forever whatever happens. They will go different paths but will forever be linked together and from today nothing will be the same professionally because they are world champions.

"We will realise what has happened tomorrow," he said after his players stormed the news conference twice to douse him with champagne. "At the moment they do not know what it is to be world champions."

The 49-year-old coach, who also led France to the Euro 2016 final only to lose in Paris to Portugal, said that defeat may have been key to winning the World Cup.

"Maybe if we were Euro champions we would not have been world champions today. I learned a lot from that defeat," he said.

"The Euro final was different. We tried to stay relaxed this time and the players knew what they had to do and what was at stake."

Lionel Messi drew level with Diego Maradona's number of World Cup goals and appearances on Saturday, but the current No. 10 knows that only winning the trophy at long last will earn him the same eternal love of his fellow Argentines.

In the twilight of a career played out in the larger-than-life shadow of Maradona - who won the 1986 World Cup almost single-handedly - Messi is desperate to also lift the trophy on his fifth and final attempt.

The 35-year-old captain has certainly done his share so far in Qatar, scoring two of Argentina's three goals.

One was a penalty in their embarrassing 2-1 upset by Saudi Arabia, the other a trademark low strike to ignite Argentina's tournament with a 2-0 win over Mexico on the day he matched both Maradona's 21 World Cup appearances and his eight goals.

"Today, Argentina's World Cup begins," a relieved Messi said afterwards.

Argentines have often found it harder to love Messi than Maradona given his departure to Spain as a boy, his more introverted demeanour and, of course, his lack of a World Cup.

But the way he has run to celebrate his goals with fans in Qatar, in a joyous release of the obvious pressures on him, shows that love is well and truly in the air on both sides.

Arguably, Messi has had a more productive career than the flamboyant Maradona, whose off-field antics and drug problems eventually overshadowed his talent.

BARCELONA GLORY

Messi is Argentina's all-time top scorer, led them to Copa America glory last year, and has won the Ballon d'Or a record seven times.

At his club from childhood, Barcelona, he scored a record 672 goals and helped win 35 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies, before last year's tearful move to Paris St Germain.

But unless he is persuaded to play another World Cup, which he has said he will not and may anyway be too old for, Qatar is his last chance to add the biggest prize to his trophy cabinet.

In truth, Messi and Argentina have not looked like world beaters yet. Against Saudi Arabia, they succumbed to a simple offside trap all too easily, then collapsed defensively for five minutes in the second half to let in two goals.

Against Mexico, they looked clueless in the first half, outmuscled, out-thought and overrun in midfield.

Mexican fans whistled in derision and the massed ranks of Argentines shook their heads when early in the second half, at 0-0, Messi lined up a free kick at a perfect distance only to sky it over and then seconds later hit a stray pass out of play.

Minutes later, however, normal service resumed with a long, low shot into the net to leave Argentines dreaming of a third World Cup. Thousands of fans stayed behind long after the end, with flags, banners and shirts bearing Messi's face and number.

One showed the great Maradona, who died two years ago aged 60, beaming down on Messi from heaven. The other showed the two of them walking into the sunset, each holding a World Cup.

The dream is still on.