Argentina head to their first World Cup since Diego Maradona's death but the Albiceleste great will be there in spirit.
That was the message from Maradona's former agent Guillermo Coppola at the opening of CONMEBOL's 'Tree of Dreams' in Doha to celebrate South America's rich football heritage.
Lionel Scaloni's side are among the pre-tournament favourites in Qatar ahead of Tuesday's Group C opener against Saudi Arabia, searching for a first World Cup crown since a Maradona-inspired triumph in 1986.
There has not been a South American winner of FIFA's top tournament since Brazil in 2002, but Coppola hopes that will change for Argentina in their first outing since Maradona passed in November 2020.
"This is going to be the first World Cup that [Maradona] is not physically with us," said the 74-year-old. "But Diego will always be with us.
"The most precious good for Diego was the football. It wasn't life, which is the most precious good that human beings have.
"It wasn't freedom – to be able to decide and to do – which is the second one, the freedom for him was the ball.
"Where a ball rolls there is Diego, do not forget this, when you see a ball rolling say, there is Diego."
Argentina ended a 28-year wait for major silverware by beating Brazil in the 2021 Copa America final.
That makes this the first World Cup they enter as champions of South America since USA 94 and former Argentina captain Javier Zanetti expects his country to come out fighting as a unified group.
Speaking alongside World Cup winners Oscar Ruggeri and Mario Alberto Kempes, Zanetti added: "It means a lot to have a united, consolidated, solid group.
"I trust that Argentina is a group that came to Qatar knowing well what they want."
While Zanetti, now Inter vice-president, acknowledged the ill-timing of the November World Cup, he has little doubt Argentina will hit the ground running.
"We cannot know about the physical condition because this World Cup is atypical," the 49-year-old continued.
"It is being played in November and many consecutive games were played recently, so there is a lot of fatigue.
"But in general, I trust that players and national teams will arrive in good condition."
Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 Le Havre: Ramos rescues point but title confirmation must wait
Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 3-3 draw at home to relegation-battling Le Havre on Saturday and will need to wait before confirming their 12th Ligue 1 title.
PSG would have clinched the title with three games to spare with a victory. They have a 12-point gap over second-placed Monaco, who are at Lyon on Sunday, and a goal difference of 47 to Monaco's 18.
The away side opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Christopher Operi and PSG levelled 10 minutes later with Bradley Barcola scoring, but Le Havre went ahead again seven minutes before the break when Andre Ayew found the net.
Le Havre made it 3-1 with an Abdoulaye Toure penalty in the 61st minute, before Achrif Hakimi gave PSG hope with a goal 12 minutes from time and Goncalo Ramos levelled in added time. Le Havre are 15th on 29 points.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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