Exchanging of jerseys after the end of a football match has been a common practice for many years. But one of the most famous such exchanges had happened at half-time, not after the final whistle.

Diego Maradona and Lothar Matthäus had swapped shirts during the mid-match break in the 1986 World Cup final between Argentina and Germany. Argentina had won that match in Mexico 3-2. The former Germany skipper, on Thursday, donated the Argentine legend’s No.10 jersey to a soccer museum at a ceremony at the Argentina Embassy in Madrid.

On the occasion, Matthäus recalled his friendship and rivalry with Maradona, who passed away in 2020. “As friends, we always used to exchange jerseys, but in that game, I didn’t have much time... During the break, we just changed jerseys and said we’ll talk later. That day Argentina won deservedly, not only because of Diego but also because the whole team was very strong. Afterwards, there was no time to talk because he was celebrating and I was with my team,” Matthäus was quoted as saying by media reports.

The two met again in the 1990 World Cup final, but this time, Matthäus was victorious. “In the final of Italia ’90, we exchanged the shirt after the game... We have that shirt in the German football museum,” he said. Matthäus realises the worth of the ’86 shirt and so did not want to sell it. He said it needed “several phone calls” from the promoters of the museum for him to be convinced to donate it. “In the museum, it will have a perfect place,” he said.

The jersey Maradona wore against England in the quarter finals of the 1986 Cup,when he scored the controversial “Hand of God” goal, was sold for more than $9 million in an online auction by Sotheby’s in May, the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of sports memorabilia.

The 61-year-old German revealed that though he played many games against Maradona, there was one occasion when they were on the same team. “There was an unforgettable game, in 1988 in Seville, (Michel) Platini’s farewell... and we played together there. I even scored a goal thanks to a pass from Maradona and then we had an unforgettable night of beers in Seville,” recounted Matthäus.