Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: On Tuesday, December 14, 2021, Maradona Cup was held at the Marsool Park stadium in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, sponsored by Jazeera Paints, as a part of the Riyadh Season events. The game was between Barcelona, a well-known professional football club in Spain, and Boca Juniors, Argentinian sports club in Buenos Aires. The latter team witnessed the rise of the legend Diego Armando Maradona, and the former was the team that introduced the legend to Europe.
It was one-of-a-kind Latin night. Ferran Gutgla scored for Barcelona at the beginning of the second half. Gutgla received a cross from Dani Alves inside the box. With a strong shot, he put the ball in the net. Then, Exequiel Zeballos came to score the equalizer for Boca Junior 25 minutes later! As Fabra took a run on the left side and passed the ball to Zeballos inside the box. Zeballos managed to trick the Barca defense, and, with one touch, he put the ball into the net with a surprised reaction from Barcelona goalkeeper, Neto.
The match ended with 1-1 and both teams went to the penalty shootout, where Boca Juniors was crowned with the Maradona Cup title after winning it 4-2 on penalty kicks against Barcelona.
This game came as commemoration of the Argentinian legend, Diego Armando Maradona. The match also witnessed the presence of Barcelona legends such as Dani Alves, his debut after joining Barca in a free transfer deal, wearing the No. 8 shirt, and Xavi Hernandez, the former Barcelona legend in midfield and the current Barcelona coach.
After the game ended in a tie, Boca Junior won the title in one of the most beautiful football nights with a cold breeze in the Riyadh season sponsored by Jazeera Paints. It is worth noting that Dani Alves did play the entire match, appearing in a good shape, in preparation for his participation with the team starting next January, when he will be placed in the team’s squad during the winter transfer period.
