Pope Francis received the president of the Italian Club of Naples, Aurelio De Laurentiis, in the Vatican on Thursday on the sidelines of the first global meeting of educational eco-cities.
During the meeting, the Pope of the Vatican received a signed ball and a miniature metal table for the feet of legend Diego Maradona.
De Laurentiis also gave the Pope a Napoli jersey with the number 10 and the Pope’s name on it.
On 4 May, Napoli won the Italian Football League title for the third time in their history, and the first time since their late star Diego Maradona, in a 1-1 draw against Udinese in the 33rd Calcio.
Napoli owe the equalizer, which was enough to win a third title after 1987 and 1990, to their top scorer and Nigerian international Calcio Victor Osimhen, who equalized in the 53rd minute after Udinese scored first. Slovenian Sandy Lovrich in the 13th minute.
Napoli did what they couldn’t do in the last leg when they failed to score three points to clinch the title after their direct rival Lazio lost 1-3 to Inter Milan.
And Napoli needed only a draw in the match after Lazio beat their guest Sassuolo 2-0 in the opening of the 33rd stage.
The southern team, Naples, led by coach Luciano Spalletti broke a 33-year wait, especially after reaching it with his late Argentine legend Diego Armando Maradona, and ended the northern teams’ dominance of the championship since that season.
At the age of 64, Spalletti became the oldest coach to win the Italian championship, breaking the record of Maurizio Sarri, who was crowned in 2020 with Juventus at the age of 61.
Source: Agencies + “AB”