Diego Maradona Dead at 60

 Argentine great Diego Maradona, who scored one of the most infamous goals in World Cup history, died of a heart attack at age 60 today in Tiegre, Argentina.  Jere  Longman has an extensive obituary in the New York Times.

Maradona ruled the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City, won by Argentina.  In the quarterfinal against England he broke a scoreless tie in the 51st minute by intercepting a pass in the air to British keep Peter Shilton and heading it - or so it seemed - into the net.  Turns out he fisted it into the net and somehow the referee did not see it.  

According to Longman, "Maradona later gave conflicting accounts of what had happened. At first he said he had never touched the ball with his fist; then he said he had done so accidentally; then he attributed the goal to divine intervention, to 'the hand of God.' " Four minutes later he dribbled some 70 yards and scored what proved to be the game winner.

In 2000 FIFA voted Maradona and Pele the two greatest players.  Unlike Pele, Maradona had a long history of drug addiction.  In 1991 he was given a 15-month suspension for a positive cocaine test.  His behavior became erratic, it was said.  In 1994 he was kicked out of the World Cup in the United States after testing positive for various stimulants. 

Health issues included alcohol abuse, treatment for a weakened heart and psychiatric treatment.  He was the father of eight children, including three while he was in Cuba treating for drug addiction.

Argentina has declared three days of mourning.

Argentinian Derby Turns Ugly

Yesterday the New York Times ran a story about the 2nd leg of South America's premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores between Buenos Aires' archrivals, River Plate and Boca Juniors, the first time the two teams have met in a cup final.  The first match ended in a 2-2 draw.  Noted radio announcer Leonardo Uranga called the game "the biggest game in Argentina history."

The game had been scheduled for tonight, Saturday, November 24, but was called off when the bus carrying Boca to the River Plate stadium  was attacked by River Plate fans who threw stones, sticks and bottles at the bus, shattering windows and causing the driver to faint.  Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and fumes drifted inside the bus where some players had been cut by flying glass and debris.  Rory Smith, who wrote the original Times article about the game, reported on the chaos and resulting postponement.

Although Boca said it could not play the game, Conmebol, the governing body of South American soccer, insisted that it go on.  Finally, at 7:45, the game was postponed to Sunday evening.

The whole affair was an embarrassment for Argentina, where a summit meeting of the G20 will take place in Buenos Aires this coming week.

Tragedy in Colombia

The soccer world is deeply saddened by the plane crash near Medellin, Colombia Monday night that wiped out the Brazilian Serie A (First Division) team, Chapecoense.  As reported in the New York Times, the team was traveling to Medellin to play Atlético Nacional in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, when the plane experienced electrical problems and went down, killing 71 of 77 on board.

Based in Chapecó, a city of about 210,000 in southern Brazil, Chapecoense was mired in the fourth division as recently as 2009 and made it to the top tier in 2014 when it finished 15th.  This season it was in 9th place with a week to go.

Atletico has asked the tournament to declare Chapecoense the champion and the other teams in the Brazilian Serie A has said they will lend players to the club in the new season.

Soccer and Naked Women in Brazil

   In a marvelous story in today's New York Times, Sam Borden takes a close look at the culture of pick-up soccer in Brazil, which will host next year's World Cup.

  The game is called pelada, a word Borden says is used by Brazilian men to refer to a naked woman.  He said a hotel doorman in Rio, waiting to play in a pick-up game, explained that, “Football and women are the only two things we really love.”

   You can tell the story is worth reading just by the first paragraph: "In Brazil, the ball is always moving. It moves on grass and on sand, on concrete and on cobblestone. Sometimes, during the rainy season, it even moves on water."

   Borden takes us from Rio to the quadras of Sao Paulo to the remote city of Manus in the Amazon where players play for the love of the game, because they have nothing else to do, in the hopes of being discovered by a professional team or to escape drug dealers.

Boycott The World Cup?

   In Brazil, no less, the winner of more men's World Cups (five) than any other nation, protesters are calling on  fans around the world to boycott next year's Cup.  Seems like people there get just as upset as here when the government spends huge sums of money to build sporing venues while overlooking other basic needs.

  As reported in the June 21 issue of the New York Times, the government is spending more than $13 billion to prepare for the World Cup.

   “I think Brazilians are feeling insulted to see that there was political will and large investments to construct big, FIFA-quality soccer fields,” said Antonio Carlos Costa, 51, a Presbyterian pastor and leader of Rio de Paz, a group that combats social inequalities in Brazil. “And when these stadiums went up, the people saw that there was not the same political will to use public funds to build the same standard of schools, hospitals, and public security.”