Dirty TackleMaradona accuses former Mexico boss of treason
The huge clash between England and Germany is garnering a huge amount of media attention, but lest we forget that Sunday also sees the super exciting Mexico and Argentina face-off. Utilizing his inability to go five minutes without saying something awesome, Diego Maradona has brought the world's attention to the battle of the Latin American nations with his latest incisive interview.
[Photos: More images of Argentina coach Diego Maradona]
Ricardo La Volpe was a reserve goalkeeper in the Argentina squad that won the 1978 World Cup, and he later went on to manage several Mexican league teams, before taking the helm of the Mexico national side in 2002. Having spent most of his post-playing career in the Estados Unidos Mexicanos, La Volpe has backed them to overcome his homeland Sunday. This has caused quite a kerfuffle in Argentina, and no one has been a fiercer critic of the turncoat that Senor Maradona:
"It makes me very cross, it has to do with respect. If a country has given you work and fed you, you shouldn't go against this country.
"This is a type of treason, he's overstepped the line. He should be grateful to Mexico because they made him rich but beyond that it's totally out of place."
While standing on his soapbox, Maradona also used the press conference to take a swipe at the press and their fickle opinions. Reports the Sydney Morning Herald:
"I'm going to be 50 on October 30, I'm grown up now so no, I don't hold a grudge," he said.
"But what makes me mad is when they [the press] lack respect for the players and when they don't know how to apologise when it's necessary to apologise.
"People said we were a disaster, the worst team they'd ever seen. Now they're saying we're an excellent team.
"We have the same players so you shouldn't believe everything you hear."
While I can understand why Diego is upset by his fellow countryman backing Mexico on Sunday, I can't quite follow the logic of asking for an apology from the press for saying Argentina were playing badly when they were playing badly. Evidently, he expected the media to look kindly on La Albiceleste when they were smashed off the park by Bolivia during qualification.
Image: Getty
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