Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

Diego Maradona has resurfaced once again as a talkshow host. The show has only been on for a couple of weeks but has already attracted international attention because of his justification of the infamous "Hand of God" goal in 1986 against England.

I say "international attention" because the BBC (which they broadcast locally on KUAZ) has played this not only as some little sports or human interest story, but actually made the story into a capsule headline that they read every half an hour. They aren't still bitter, are they?

He's admitted to the cheating before on several occasions. Now he's saying that it's okay because the British "stole" the Falkland Islands. Of course, British occupation of the islands predates Argentine independence, but never mind that.

Maradona said that this wasn't a calculated move, but:

I had to do it with my hand…I’m short, shorty and the English goal keeper (Peter) Shilton was 1.86 (meters) tall. No way could I out jump him with my head…that’s why I touched the ball with my left fist.

So, no calculation, but he was able to measure Shilton's height to three significant figures.

This was also the first time I've seen Maradona admit that even his teammates knew he'd cheated on the goal:

None of them came to embrace me and celebrate. I begged them, please come, I wanted them to pretend. But they were rather shy and slow in coming and when they did so, they seemed to be saying “we’re cheating”

The English are still a bit miffed about this incident, as evidenced by the prominence that this story was given on the BBC. They always forget, however, that Maradona scored another goal only minutes later after dribbling around five English players. Yeah, Maradona cheated, but the English were also outplayed by the Argentines.

The English like to think that since they invented the game, they must naturally be considered the best. It was this sort of arrogance that led to their underperformance at just about every World Cup, 'cept 1966. It was what led to their defeat at the hands of a bunch of letter carriers and day laborers that represented the USA in 1950. I wonder if this attitude is what leads them to still gripe about the "Hand of God."


Beleive it or not, my occasional posts about soccer have led a page called Laola! to link to me.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.