Maradona calls for meeting with Argentina players

France midfielder Paul Pogba said the finals in Russia might be his last World Cup but he hopes he will be fit for more.

"It might be my last World Cup," the Manchester United player, 25, told a news conference ahead of Tuesday's Group C final game against Denmark.

France have already qualified for the last 16 and will secure top spot if they avoid defeat.

"I'm realistic, we don't know if I'll be called up, maybe other players will be better than me," added Pogba.

"I hope I'll play more. I've already had the chance to play two, some can only dream to play one."

An Argentine court on Tuesday authorized the transfer of football legend Diego Maradona's remains, at his daughters' request, from a cemetery to a mausoleum to be built for him in central Buenos Aires.

Maradona died in November 2020, aged 60, while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battling addictions to cocaine and alcohol.

He was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighborhood where he was brought after being discharged from hospital.

He was found to have died of a heart attack.

His daughters had requested his remains be transferred to a monument that will be known as the "M10 Memorial."

The court that granted the request is also investigating possible negligence on the part of Maradona's medical team that may have led to his death.

The face of a young Diego Armando Maradona gazes down from a mural in Naples' Miracles Square, watching the city gear up for a celebration it hasn't enjoyed since the Argentine soccer star was at his peak more than 30 years ago.

Miracles for Neapolitans, who grew up in a city steeped in mysticism and superstition, are happening on the pitch, as their team cruise towards a third Serie A triumph and prepares for their first ever quarter-final in the Champions League.

Photo: Reuters

"This comes from the soul of Maradona. It is him, watching us from above," said Raffaele Cardamone, a 51-year-old truck driver, indicating the newly completed mural portraying the stocky soccer genius, who died in 2020.

"It is the hand of God," he added, referring to the famous goal Maradona that scored with his hand in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, which helped Argentina knock out England.

Maradona was also the driving force behind the Napoli team at that time, helping the city win its first league title in 1987 and its second just three years later in 1990.

With 11 games left to play, the southern Italian side have a 19-point lead over second-placed Lazio and their title dream could become reality as early as the second half of April, more than a month ahead of their final league fixture.

Neapolitans are already celebrating the third Scudetto -- literally "shield" -- as the Italian league title is known, seeing it as revenge on the wealthy northern cities of Turin and Milan, whose teams Juventus, Inter and AC Milan have dominated Serie A for the past three decades.

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Locals have dropped their traditional "scaramanzia", an array of rituals rooted in popular culture to keep away bad luck, which normally include not claiming victory before having secured it.

The city's craftsmen have created figurines of the city's new heroes. Cardboard silhouettes of the players line the city's Spanish Quarters, as vespas weave through the narrow lanes and blue flags flutter in front of the shops.

Posters show Maradona in heaven, handing over the Scudetto to Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia -- the two main stars of the current team.

Residents have launched fundraising initiatives to finance a Scudetto party that they say will last for days and aim to paint the city's walls and streets in the club's blue hue.

"The euphoria is impossible to contain," said Antonio Sarracino, 55, who keeps a collection tin for donations inside his shop.

Neapolitans hope sporting glory can be a boost to a city where poverty remains widespread, but where life is improving on the back of growth in tourism, with research institute Demoskopika estimating a 13% increase in arrivals this year compared to 2022.

"The first two league wins came in a different era. There wasn't much tourism. There were massive local celebrations but they did not go beyond Naples," said Ernesto Monte, 59, looking at the sea from a bar near the central Plebiscito square.

Novelist and poet Erri De Luca recalls that Maradona, who remains the city's biggest hero and had the stadium named after him, joined the team just a few years after the 1980 earthquake in the nearby Irpinia area, which killed 2,700.

"That was a city still shaking off the dust of the earthquake. It had Camorra mafia wars on the streets and in the prison. Tourists only came here to head straight to the islands and the coast. Today Naples is an attraction," he said.

The probable league victory might not be the only triumph for Napoli this year, with many fans hopeful that the team could make it to the Champions League final for the first time ever. They play Italian rivals AC Milan in the quarter-finals.

Pietro De Chiara, 26, last week helped paint a large Scudetto symbol on an openair stairway called Heaven Alley, in the bustling Spanish Quarter.

"After the Scudetto, we will have the Champions League, and we will finish painting the steps," he told Reuters.

Nigeria will take delight in ending potentially Lionel Messi's last World Cup for Argentina despite their love and admiration for the five-time world player of the year, promised Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr.

Victory for the Africans in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday will send Argentina home in disgrace after failing to win a game in Russia and send Nigeria into the last 16.

"We love this great player, Messi, everybody loves him," said Rohr on Monday. "The question is not if it is the last World Cup for him or not, the question is for us to be qualified.

"We are not here to watch him playing. We are here to make a result, we are professionals.

"We are here to defend the colours of Nigeria and we know in football there is no mercy, no pity, everybody wants to win and we cannot make any gifts even if we like very much this player."

Messi carried Argentina through a troubled qualifying campaign but has so far failed to fire in Russia, missing a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Iceland before Croatia thrashed the two-time world champions 3-0.

Nigerian defender Brian Idowu admitted he would love Messi's shirt as a momento, but also insisted he wants to send Argentina packing.

"Our main goal is that it will be Messi's last World Cup game, as much as footballers we love watching him play," said Idowu, who was born in Saint Petersburg and still plays his club football in Russia for Amkar Perm.

"I would love of course to swap jerseys with him but I would love to swap jerseys with many players in the Argentinean side.

"They have many very good players and I watch them all play on TV, so it is not just Messi."

Nigeria moved into second place in Group D behind already qualified Croatia by beating Iceland 2-0 thanks to an Ahmed Musa double.

However, that victory came at a cost as captain John Obi Mikel suffered a fracture in his left hand that means he will be forced to wear a cast if he is to face Argentina.

"The captain has a fracture of the third metacarpal of the left hand. It's not so big fracture, it's a little one, but he has to play with a cast," added Rohr.

"We have to ask to the referee to accept, but it is hard plastic so I think it is ok. (He has) not so many pains and he will be ready I think."

Luciano Spalletti hailed "a Maradona-like goal" from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as Napoli beat Atalanta 2-0 to stretch their dominant lead at the top of Serie A.

The 11th goal of the Georgian's debut Serie A season came in the 60th minute of Saturday's game, as he slalomed his way into the penalty area and left defenders floundering before burying a fierce finish into the roof of the net.

Kvaratskhelia left Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi bamboozled by his shimmying footwork, and it was hard not to think of the great goals scored by Napoli legend Diego Maradona as a reasonable measure of comparison.

This was special, and it means Kvaratskhelia has 20 goal involvements in the league campaign, given he has also notched up nine assists. He and fellow Napoli forward Victor Osimhen are the only players in Serie A this season to reach that mark, with striker Osimhen on 23 (19 goals, four assists).

"It was very difficult to beat this Atalanta team, they are a solid and aggressive team," Spalletti said. "We were good in terms of intensity and then Kvara put his enormous quality into it.

"He scored a Maradona-like goal. It was a goal that started from afar, first with [Frank] Anguissa's great ball recovery, then with Osimhen's progression, and then with the prowess of Khvicha who is an extraordinary player in one-on-one situations."

Spalletti watched admiringly and spoke of how Kvaratskhelia had the defenders in trouble "without ever making it clear whether he'll go to the right or to the left, and then he shoots with precision and power".

Amir Rrahmani headed a second in the 77th minute to make sure of victory after Atalanta had their most threatening spell of the game.

Napoli's win took them 18 points clear of closest rivals Inter, with Lazio having a chance in the late game on Saturday to jump to second, albeit still a distant 17 points adrift of Spalletti's side.

This result in Naples came in the wake of a rare loss for Napoli against Lazio last time out in Serie A, with the return to winning ways surely soothing any nerves.

Napoli's lead is huge, and they know this is a platform from which they must become champions as they seek a first league title since Maradona himself drove the team to glory in 1986-87 and 1989-90, the only Scudetto triumphs in their history.

"Winning this match was very important for the team," Spalletti said, quoted on Napoli's website. "We want to reach the stars, and we will do everything to achieve it.

"We've already heard too many rumours after the evening against Lazio, many immediately rushed to give summary judgements, and therefore it was right to respond on the pitch.

"We'll do everything to reach the stars, but in the middle there are games that you have to play with concreteness, conviction and character. If we continue with this mentality, we can be calm."