rio de janeiro, july 18 (xinhua) -- argentine soccer legend diego maradona has branded juan roman riquelme a traitor for leaving boca juniors, local media reported wednesday.

riquelme announced his decision to quit the club following the team's 3-1 aggregate loss to corinthians in the copa libertadores final earlier this month.

maradona's comments reignited a feud which began in 2009 when riquelme publicly criticized the then argentina coach for leaving him out of the national team.

maradona responded by overlooking the former barcelona and villarreal star for the team's 2010 world cup campaign in south africa.

"it really surprised me. he can fight with me about argentina's national team but he can't betray 75 percent of the country," maradona told radio metro, in reference to boca's massive fan base.

maradona was last week sacked as coach of united arab emirates outfit al wasl, just 14 months into a two-year contract.