At the beginning of the match Maradona, 57, was seen rotating a Messi jersey around his head and then giving it a kiss, in what seemed like a good luck ritual.
However, as the game went on and Croatia scored one goal after the other, the footballer who was part of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning squad was seen with his hands over his head.
Some fans on social media said that Maradona was seen crying as Argentina was losing to Croatia.
One wrote: “Is that the champ crying? Just emulating how we are all feeling.”
Another said: “If Maradona was the coach, rest assured that nobody in that team would be going back to their hotel this night.”
— Goal (@goal) June 21, 2018
— Dorian Gray (@sigmamakhubalo) June 21, 2018
— Football Stuff 🏆 (@FootbalIStuff) June 22, 2018
Maradona is regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time and he is still an avid football supporter. He was seen in quite a buoyant mood before the game started.
The football ace even defended Messi after he missed his crucial penalty in the game against Iceland.
"I missed five penalties in a row and I was still Diego Armando Maradona. The game and the two points lost by the team are not down to his penalty. He showed his face and gave everything he had to give. The ‘kid’ did his duty,” Maradona had said about Messi after the Iceland game last Saturday.
However, as Argentina’s team was left in disarray on Thursday, it was too much for the football legend and he seemed thoroughly glum by the end of the game.
— DAVE_SA #Gunman (@MakapelaThibane) June 22, 2018
— Gentle Mo (@mon_rockyy) June 21, 2018
— steve taylor (@stevetaylor147) June 21, 2018
Argentina, which has not missed the second round since failing to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, has not yet been eliminated. However, the two-time champions have to win their next match against Nigeria on Tuesday and hope other results work out in their favor.
