Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, was one of the few Argentines on the planet who did not see Leo Messi Raise the World Cup in 2022, due to a promise that made the Virgen del Carmen in 1990.
Francisco, fan confessed from San Lorenzo And follower during his football youth, he was a great ally of sport during his pontificate. He created, in fact, the 'Party for Peace', in which he brought together more than 150 stars in 3 editions that filled the Olympic of Rome, with the last one held in 2022 as a tribute to Diego Armando Maradona.
However, the Pope did not see the two most important games in the history of the National Team: the final lost to Germany in Brazil in 2014 and the final won to France in Qatar in 2022.
A day after 86th anniversary
Francisco He turned 86 on December 17, 2022. A day later, on the 18th, Argentina played against France the grand final of the World Cup.
“I was gathered with 5 Alitalia pilots and their wives. They wanted Francisco recalled in an interview with 'La Nación' in March 2023.
“When I returned they told me, he is winning 3-2 or 3-1, I don't remember. added.
And he reflected: “Able that it is a thing that has no foundation, huh? But I say it. We get well at the beginning. We like to start well, but we lack the constancy of arriving later. Happy because we won the first half and we won the duel. And no. The game must be fought until the end. And you had to fight in the prison, both Holland and France. Tired … “he reflected.
'The two potato final'
Legend has it that in 2014, in the final of the World Cup in Brazil, Francisco and Benedict XVI, the German Joseph Ratzinger, They saw the final together. 'The final of the two potatoes', It was called. Nothing further than a rumor that fed the film 'The two potatoes', of the Brazilian Fernando Meirellesreleased in 2019.
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The reality is that the Pope stopped watching television in 1990 for a promise that made the Virgen del Carmen. “I told myself: 'This does not help the heart'”, declared in the same interview.
“Sometimes I saw television, huh? When some president assumed his position, when the plane fell (Buenos Aires) in 1999 … those little things I saw them. But I don't watch television at all,” sentenced.
