NYTimes: Maradona Deserves Respect and an Apology

[ElNono]

Maradona Deserves Respect and an Apology (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/sports/soccer/03maradona.html?ref=sports)
By ROB HUGHES
Published: July 2, 2010

JOHANNESBURG — Dear Diego: It is high time that we critics said sorry, and thank you.

We misjudged your appointment as coach. We believed that Julio Grondona, the 78-year-old president of Argentina’s soccer federation, had lost all sense of reason in asking you, a fading icon without a coaching badge, to pick up a broken national team and lead it through this World Cup.

Well, so much for so-called expertise.

Whatever happens between Argentina and Germany in Cape Town on Saturday, your team has been the joy of this tournament.

You have breathed life into an overly cautious era in the sport. Your players — Lionel Messi, of course, and Carlos Tévez, Gonzalo Higuaín and others — have blown away inhibition.

The talents are obvious, even to us failed know-it-alls. The group of players that you inherited was clearly unbalanced. You have more forwards than you need, and too few defenders of real quality.

Even so, most certified coaches would set out to do what Brazil has done during the course of the tournament — defend in greater numbers and attack only sporadically.

Not so Maradona. You liberate the team, play to its strengths, attack, attack, attack.

And when you give license like you have to Messi, Tévez and company, you also liberate us. When your team rips apart the caution of opponents, we feel like children who all want to be attackers.

Your antics on the sideline personify this.

We are not fooled, Diego, by the gray suit and the polished shoes. We see through that formal attire to a man reliving his youth, a man of 49 who was the devil-may-care genius in 1986. A man who went to Germany for the last World Cup, dressed in a player’s jersey, cheerleading from the stands.

That enthusiasm reminds us how soccer is a simple game. Your team has superior attacking skills, so let it play to its nature.

It sounds, and looks, so obvious. Germany represents a real challenge, especially to your defense. Yet we’re not sure you care about any opposition. The further your team goes, the closer you get to stripping away the myth and mystique that team management is a science that can only succeed through years of study of the manual.

I don’t imagine you reading any books on how to be successful in your game. Having been on the streets of Villa Miseria Fiorito, the slum you grew up in outside Buenos Aires, I can understand that books are hogwash to you.

A manual for anything written by outsiders would not have taken you out of that impoverished, but in some ways happy, place. Your skills did that. And even Englishmen who cursed the Hand of God goal you fisted in during the 1986 World Cup had to acknowledge the genius with which you outwitted six men to score a second in that game.

Genius, playing to your own rules.

Still, when Grondona, the Argentina soccer president since before anyone even heard of Maradona, turned to you as coach, we all flipped.

How could this work? How could a player who burned himself out on drugs, drink and an apparent inability to cope with life beyond the final whistle be the guide and mentor to players who appeared lost and disillusioned by their own national federation?

Better-placed critics, men who had led Argentina to its two World Cups, feared for their country and for you.

Many agreed with Daniel Arcucci, a columnist for La Nación, who wrote last year, “Maybe Maradona is risking too much, as always in his life — even his status as a myth.”

Arcucci wasn’t alone in that fear. None of us imagined what we are seeing now.

History is against your team going all the way.

You know, but probably do not care, that only two men have won the World Cup as a player and a coach. Mário Zagallo played for Brazil when it triumphed in 1958, and was the coach in 1970. Franz Beckenbauer captained Germany to the title in 1974, and was manager in 1990.

What you are attempting is closer to Beckenbauer than Zagallo. Beckenbauer had no background on the sideline, no piece of paper verifying him as a tried and tested coach; he had, and has, the aura of being his country’s greatest living player.

Zagallo was the opposite. An industrious winger in his time, steeped in the coaching ethos, he stepped in when Brazil’s federation fired João Saldanha weeks before the World Cup.

Saldanha was your type of guy, Diego. He loved irreverence, he debunked the stereotypes of coaching. He let great players play. He shared with them a love of just being the best that a man could be.

You told us that your message to Messi was simply to say nobody ever told Maradona where to play, so you shouldn’t have to tell Messi where to play, either.

Interesting, because we thought there might be friction between the man who was Argentina’s most magical player and the only man since who might challenge that mantle.

If that is another misconception, it’s time to say mea culpa, and mean it.

[ElNono]

ESPN: Maradona in in complete control (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story/_/id/5348198/ce/us/chris-jones-diego-maradona-interesting-man?cc=5901&ver=us)
By Chris Jones
Special to ESPN.com

JOHANNESBURG -- Granted, Diego Maradona's latest moment of brilliance might have been nothing more than an accident. Friday's World Cup coverage began with a viral video of Argentina's incorrigible manager running across a cold field with his players, kicking around a ball with childlike enthusiasm, all while he hauled on a giant cigar. Be damned his tender heart, his history of excess, his buffoon's burden. Here he is, blowing out smoke like a dragon, once again finding himself at the center of the world's undivided attention.

This time, this one time, he might not have planned on it. He might have thought nothing much beyond, I want to play soccer, and I want to have a smoke, and so he did, and a camera happened to capture it.

But over the past few weeks here in South Africa, while I've watched Maradona make shocking news conference pronouncements and celebrate each beautiful Argentine goal as though he had scored it himself, I've chosen to believe that most of what the old man does is calculated. I believe he knows exactly what he's doing, and he's known it from the start. I don't think he's an idiot savant or an accidental genius or a man who just keeps getting struck by lightning, as others might. I believe Diego Maradona is the most interesting man in the world.

I believe.

His term as the head of his national team, the team he single-handedly guided to a World Cup win in 1986 -- OK, God helped -- had started badly after his controversial appointment in November 2008. He was seen as a tactical amateur, a man who called up nearly 100 confused players, a disorganized, impulsive force of nature who couldn't be trusted to manage his own colossal appetites, let alone a national institution. When Argentina suffered a 6-1 defeat to Bolivia during qualifying for this World Cup, it looked as though his tenure would resemble his disastrous post-playing life more than his brilliant on-field career.

But then, as they were always going to, the Argentines rallied around their patron saint and won their last two games to qualify, including a dramatic 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Montevideo. After that game, Maradona declared that he had been "consecrated" in his position, and he looked as though he truly believed that he had been suddenly blessed again by something divine. His baser self also came rushing to the surface: "Suck it, and keep on sucking it," he told the reporters who had dared doubt him.

It was one of the all-time great postgame tirades, and it was just the first of many. FIFA suspended him for it, a meaningless two-month vacation during which Argentina played exactly zero minutes of real soccer. He had been taught nothing, which is to say that he had learned everything. Now Maradona knew that, even without his feet on the field, he could help his country win. All he had to do was open his mouth, and he could will everything into its rightful place.

He began here by taking on Pele, one of soccer's most scared figures, telling the prolific Brazilian that he should go "back to the museum." He derided UEFA president Michel Platini and, in the process, the entirety of France. He made light of his massive tax debt to the Italian government -- 37 million euros and counting -- which he had attempted to pay off by handing over two nice watches and a pair of earrings. His great black head appeared in the middle of a halftime bench fight during the round of 16 against Mexico. He was asked why he was so affectionate with his players, and he said, "Well, I still prefer women. I am dating Veronica, who is a blond and 31 years old. No, I have not gone limp-wristed."

Most recently, his outrageous campaign has reached new heights over Argentina's next hurdle, the dreaded Germans, who won their 2006 World Cup quarterfinal in a shootout. After German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger complained about Argentina's sometimes goonish play and referee-baiting, Maradona looked into a camera and said, "What's the matter Schweinsteiger? Are you nervoushhh?"

Maradona was immediately blasted for his apparent mocking of the German accent -- which this master of gamesmanship had no doubt meant to -- but he had, in fact, only adopted the famous catchphrase of Nestor Kirchner, the lisp-afflicted former Argentine president. Maradona had consciously upset his opponent, but he did it with plausible deniability waiting in his back pocket. If people didn't get the joke, that was their problem; that was only their cultural ignorance at work, not his. "Are you nervoushhh?" was a masterstroke. It was vintage Maradona, the man who could knock an opponent into pieces long before the opening whistle.

Now, he is what he was. He is great again. He stands on the sideline in his gray suit, feverishly working his rosary, barely able to restrain himself from running onto the field, and he is young once more. Everything that happened between then and now -- his monstrous coke habit, his alcoholism, his bulging waistline, his stomach stapling and romantic entanglements -- has not disappeared, but it's become just more material for him to mine. The way it made people sometimes forget about his playing career, his inescapable narcissism has protected Argentina's current players from having to suffer in their own spotlight.

Lionel Messi hasn't scored? Who cares? Carlos Tevez's opening goal against the Mexicans was offside? Could have fooled me.

Maradona has taken it all on himself -- partly because he likes the attention, flat-out thrives on the attention, but mostly because he knows it will keep the rest of his world safe. The same Argentines who had nearly stumbled out of qualifying have dominated here, winning game after game by playing attacking, vengeful soccer, by getting inside the heads of their rivals, by finding weaknesses and exploiting them, by relying on faith and love and superstition to get them past their own. They have become the embodiment of their manager, 11 men collectively assuming the personality of their D10S. This is Diego Maradona's team, and he has molded it in his own graven image. It has been an incredible journey for the rest of us to watch. It is 1,000 lifetimes rolled into one.

Smoke it, El Diego. And keep on smoking it.

Chris Jones is a contributing editor to ESPN The Magazine and a writer-at-large for Esquire.

[ElNono]

I'm afraid all these articles are being posted now from all these websites as a jinx attempt lol

[MaNuMaNiAc]

All that bullshit because we beat Nigeria, South Korea, Greece and Mexico... no, sorry if Maradona beats Germany which is quite frankly the only true quality opposition we've had all tournament, then we can talk about proving the doubters wrong. Until then, we haven't done squat.

[ffadicted]

A tad bit early for this, you guys don't win tomorrow and imo ppl will be calling for maradona's head. Trust me, it was all looking shitty for dunga's critics a few hours ago, now they've already pounced on his ass like fucking sharks

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Seriously, are people watching some other Argentina I don't know about?? What exactly has been so beautiful about our goals? Most of them have been pretty fucking ugly. In fact, just about the only goals I remember being a beauty is Tevez' second against Mexico and maybe Higuain's as well, what with side stepping the goalie and all. Other than that the goals have been pretty mediocre in quality.

and its not like our offense flows with great passing. Its either our players pull something out of their ass or we are fucked. Its what makes watching this team so nerve wrecking. We don't play pretty, at all. Which is fine as long as we're winning, but what's up with these writers claiming Argentina football is beautiful?

[ElNono]

Say what you will, and we could easily lose tomorrow, but this argentina team has been a pleasure to watch. You can't tell me that coming in you thought this team could play this kind of soccer. Save for a few stretches, this team really played with reckless abandon and went from sure-fail to contender.
Mexico is a good team and was no pushover, and south korea had on the fence that uruguay team that just went to the top 4 in the world. At this level, you have to go out there and win the games.

I agree that we haven't done squat yet. Even if we win tomorrow, people won't be satisfied if we don't win it all. That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that this team has improved dramatically since the team last left montevideo with the qualification in hand.

[ElNono]

A tad bit early for this, you guys don't win tomorrow and imo ppl will be calling for maradona's head. Trust me, it was all looking shitty for dunga's critics a few hours ago, now they've already pounced on his ass like fucking sharks

I think the timing is not fortuitous, and I believe they want to acknowledge him in case Argentina loses tomorrow.
You also have to remember that there's nothing the media would love more than having Maradona handy on every world cup lol.

[ElNono]

Seriously, are people watching some other Argentina I don't know about?? What exactly has been so beautiful about our goals? Most of them have been pretty fucking ugly. In fact, just about the only goals I remember being a beauty is Tevez' second against Mexico and maybe Higuain's as well, what with side stepping the goalie and all. Other than that the goals have been pretty mediocre in quality.

The last one against South Korea was nice. Heinze's opener was a nice header too. But it's not the beauty of the goals they're talking about, but the beauty of the game of going all out and not playing scared to lose. And if you rewatch the opening round of games, or even a snorefest like Paraguay-Japan, Argentina has been always on the other end of the spectrum.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Say what you will, and we could easily lose tomorrow, but this argentina team has been a pleasure to watch. You can't tell me that coming in you thought this team could play this kind of soccer. Save for a few stretches, this team really played with reckless abandon and went from sure-fail to contender.
Mexico is a good team and was no pushover, and south korea had on the fence that uruguay team that just went to the top 4 in the world. At this level, you have to go out there and win the games.

I agree that we haven't done squat yet. Even if we win tomorrow, people won't be satisfied if we don't win it all. That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that this team has improved dramatically since the team last left montevideo with the qualification in hand.

see this is what I'm talking about. What kind of football are you talking about? The Argentina I saw against Mexico is going to get trampled against the likes of Germany. We play disorganized, ugly football with the exception that we have enough individual offensive talent that we can coast through in this WC, which let's face it, hasn't seen great performances from most of its favorites.

Don't get me wrong, I love that we're winning everything, but beautiful football we are definitely NOT playing.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

The last one against South Korea was nice. Heinze's opener was a nice header too. But it's not the beauty of the goals they're talking about, but the beauty of the game of going all out and not playing scared to lose. And if you rewatch the opening round of games, or even a snorefest like Paraguay-Japan, Argentina has been always on the other end of the spectrum.

ok, but even then, what did they expect from a team that has the defense we have? Either we score or we're fucked. I don't think our "offensive minded football" is a choice so much as a necesity.

Either way, its definitely not been pretty. Then again, we played very pretty football back in 2006 and still lost so...

[ElNono]

see this is what I'm talking about. What kind of football are you talking about? The Argentina I saw against Mexico is going to get trampled against the likes of Germany. We play disorganized, ugly football with the exception that we have enough individual offensive talent that we can coast through in this WC, which let's face it, hasn't seen great performances from most of its favorites.

Don't get me wrong, I love that we're winning everything, but beautiful football we are definitely NOT playing.

Depends on what you think 'beautiful soccer' is. If you think a structured team that's programmed to attack from the wings, move up and down as a block, etc is 'beautiful soccer', then I respect your opinion but I don't share it. I like the fact that we're inventive going forward, that we play to win, not to tie or not to lose, and we have players that if you give them two meters they can combine and create something out of seemingly nothing. We obviously have flaws (every team does), and when you are the team taking risks going forward, you will have some problems on the back.

I love the fact that whenever one of our guys up front grabs the ball, you don't know what's gonna happen, but you already sense something good is coming. I personally haven't experienced that with this team since Diego retired really.

The only game where we stopped pounding and pounding going forward was the Mexico game after we were up 3-0. And we went back, and tried to play with the result, and that's obviously something we don't know how to do, and we suffered. I also said, and still have my doubts, of what the reaction is going to be if we fall behind.

[urunobili]

lol all this love and no one said anything about the "Uruguay is on this WC?" comment... fuck Maradona

[ElNono]

ok, but even then, what did they expect from a team that has the defense we have? Either we score or we're fucked. I don't think our "offensive minded football" is a choice so much as a necessity.

Either way, its definitely not been pretty. Then again, we played very pretty football back in 2006 and still lost so...

Exactly. That 2006 team was also fun (I would argue it was not as hard working and unpredictable going forward as this one), but it doesn't guarantee anything.
None of those articles are claiming argentina will win it all. They're just thanking for the contrast of our game vs a vast majority of other teams that came to South Africa not to risk anything and not to lose.

[ElNono]

lol all this love and no one said anything about the "Uruguay is on this WC?" comment... fuck Maradona

Do you have the quote? Because today reporters were trying to bait him into talking about Brazil and other teams in the WC, and he basically kept on saying he was only thinking about Germany.

Not that I don't believe you, I know diego is nuts anyways. :lol

[ManuLoco]

In 2006 we played well only against Serbia, then we sucked. We sucked against Ivory Coast (ten more minutes and it was 2-2), we sucked against Holland (neither of us wanted to win), we sucked against Mexico (pretty similar to 2010) and we sucked against Germany (let's hope we don't repeat that).

This team doesnt play well but I don't remember the last time I got so pumped up every time Argentina attacks. I also don't remember the last time I got so scared every time Argentina defends.

[ElNono]

If you were alive and old enough to remember what 1986 was like, this is exactly it. When we were going forward, you didn't know what could happen, but you knew we had an ace in the hole. When we defended, we suffered, even if Bilardo would play 5 defenders and pull every trick in the book. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe we'll lose tomorrow and we'll be talking about something else. But this team is the one that reminds me the most to that one.

[ElNono]

And FWIW, I've had my heart on my throat as far as the Argentina defense since basically forever. We always have a defensive letdown here and there. Sometimes you have to give credit to the other team's offense too.

[urunobili]

Do you have the quote? Because today reporters were trying to bait him into talking about Brazil and other teams in the WC, and he basically kept on saying he was only thinking about Germany.

Not that I don't believe you, I know diego is nuts anyways. :lol

turn on TV... u want the Uruguayan papers links?

[MB20]

Maradona has done some things right.
Maybe he doesn't know anything about tactics, but he has kept his players motivated. He's supported the guys that made mistakes.

And there are no group problems. The players seem to be happy playing for him.

A happy and motivated team is enough for me. The results are good so far.
If we lose tomorrow, I will still be proud of these players and coaching staff.

[ElNono]

turn on TV... u want the Uruguayan papers links?

I'm in NJ, TV is on but nothing here... lol
Do send me the link though, just for laughs

[diego]

as maradona's main defender in discussions we've had so far (my real name isn't diego :lol ), I agree this is premature. Before the WC started we knew we would play a relatively easy group and more importantly a relatively easy 2nd round. they've reached reasonable expectation. but now the real test comes.

manumaniac, do you really think maradona needs to teach the players where and how to pass? they know. the two important things maradona has done is first, not try to play a european style. he is playing 4 forwards out there! and maxi rodriguez is more an offensive mid than a defensive. its practically 5 forwards/5 defenders, like they used to play in the 50s. thats not a subtle difference. and it makes sense because we have much better forwards than we do defenders.
second, he's a base and a shield. he takes all the pressure and handles the media so they can just play. consider the average age of these players, this is hugely important IMO.

i find it far more beautiful to see skilled players improvise together than to watch the typical european team throwing 30 crosses to (or more likely, in the general direction of)... 1 striker. and in all likelihood, they are more likely to stand back and poke than they are to actually get 30 crosses, of any quality, in.


Either we score or we're fucked.

yeah, thats pretty much the premise of the game. you score, you dont get fucked. so lets go out and play 5 forwards and score (hopefully, with pastore in for maxi- go balls out diego!) if they lose 6-0 or 6-1, congratulations, you were right. but as you yourself said, nobody is playing great. maradona's argentina is capable of scoring on anyone (doesnt mean they always will, but no one has the personnel to match up with that kind of attack, they'd have to change their lineup).

if we end up losing, in penalties or 1-0 or 2-1 or whatever, is it really much worse than the job pekerman did? or do you really think these players are better than that one? I want to know before the game tomorrow, just what your expectations are.

this is practically half the reason i'm as pumped as i am for tomorrow. this team has a chance to make a huge statement if they actually win the WC playing like this.

[TDMVPDPOY]

lol why is he gettin all the praise, do you guys actually think his doing the coachin?

cause it seems like its messi out there doing all the work and coachin...

[diego]

just to add- compare englands attack to argentinas. ghanas attack to argentinas. serbias attack to argentinas. germany is in for no picnic tomorrow, they're going to have to chase those little forwards all over the field. Our defense isnt going to stop them, but is their D going to stop us?

[urunobili]

lol NYTimes thanks for the jinx... and upon the team's arrival to Ezeiza... can someone please tell Maradona that Uruguay is on the World Cup and actually made it to Semi Finals place that neither him neither Brazil will enjoy being at? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[Bukefal]

Lol this writer regrets he wrote it. He should have waited a bit.

[ffadicted]

Lmao!!

[ElNono]

lol same writer, 4 days later:

Just When Cup Had Its Theme, Story Takes a Sudden Turn (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/sports/soccer/05hughes.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Just%20when%20cup%20had%20its%20theme&st=cse)
By ROB HUGHES
Published: July 4, 2010

The World Cup turned on its axis over the weekend. Before Friday, virtually every soccer expert was certain that the power in this tournament belonged to teams from Latin America, that European soccer was stale.

And what happened? Predictions were shot through with holes and grown men were reduced to tears.

First, Brazil was outplayed in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in Port Elizabeth. Then Ghana lost in a shootout after a deliberate use of hands by a Uruguayan player at Soccer City in Johannesburg.

Next, Argentina was overwhelmed by Germany, 4-0, in Cape Town. Finally, David Villa, Spain’s savior once again, scored with seven minutes left in regulation time to eliminate a spirited Paraguay team at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Four fields featuring four contests that confounded the critics.

Who would have it any other way? Uncertainty is a good thing in sports. If the results were known beforehand, why bother to go to the stadium or to switch on the television at all hours of the day and night? The Dutch players probably did not think much of their chances at halftime Friday, when they trailed, 1-0. Wesley Sneijder, who scored the goals that turned the game around, and Arjen Robben said that the players in the locker room saw no way that they could advance to the next round. Not after being dominated in every way by Brazil for a half.

What changed that, Sneijder said, was the realization that nothing would be gained by staying timid. Dutch courage, maybe Brazilian overconfidence and certainly a foul that resulted in a red card for Felipe Melo of Brazil turned things around.

But the key to Brazil’s elimination was that it was not true to its traditional flowing soccer style. Its coach, Dunga, tried to make Brazil more like Germany: bigger, stronger, more efficient, less flamboyant. Brazil fell between the two approaches, and on Sunday, Dunga was fired for that. Relying on its rhythm and creativity, Brazil plays the best game on earth; attempting to emulate the style of a European team, Brazil did not scare the Dutch.

Argentina took the opposite approach. Knowing that its defense was poor, it pushed everything forward, giving this World Cup more thrills during the first three weeks than any other team. That strategy failed against Germany, which knew exactly how to beat such an unbalanced team: take advantage of its weakness, crowd out Lionel Messi, and never let Argentina’s attacking offense get any momentum.

“It was absolute class,” Germany Coach Joachim Löw said of Saturday’s victory. “We analyzed their games and expected that Messi would drop into midfield. We managed to take him out of the game, keeping him under pressure without fouling him.”

He added: “I told my players, ‘You are younger, faster, more enduring.’ We were able to put Argentina’s defense under pressure and take it apart completely.”

Full marks for thoroughness. Yet Löw is still auditioning for his job at this World Cup. A month ago, the German soccer federation was not prepared to give him a contract beyond 2010.

How could they or Löw have known a few months ago that Thomas Müller, then just a young prospect with little experience at the international level, would burst into this World Cup like a star? How could Löw be sure that Sami Khedira, Jérôme Boateng and Mesut Özil would bring to Germany a youthful self-confidencethat would make them not only powerful as a unit but pleasing to watch, too?

The joy of putting them in and finding out is part of this World Cup’s revelatory essence. The fall of presumed powers like England, France, Italy and Brazil is quite the opposite.

And it is not only teams that are going home without fulfilling their potential. The exit of England’s Wayne Rooney, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and now Messi was shocking. They came into the tournament hailed as the heirs to the legacies of players like Pelé, Diego Maradona and Zinédine Zidane. They are, by anyone’s estimation, the three current outstanding individual stars in soccer, both on the field and in its marketing.

Rooney and Ronaldo did nothing to enhance their reputations. Messi did, until he was neutralized by Germany.

Maradona, now Argentina’s coach, would seem to be a man with a singular insight about star players — and perhaps why they fail. When his own tears were spent Saturday, he said he felt as if he had been flattened by a punch from Muhammad Ali.

Verbal punches were thrown at him from all angles. Surely Maradona was responsible for Argentina’s collapse? Surely he accepted what Germany’s players had said beforehand, that Argentines were nothing but temperamental artistes? Maradona, now almost 50, said in effect that he was the father of this team, that he would go home defending them, that he was proud of them. He, and they, knew no other way to play. He may quit, but he says he will first consult his family and friends.

But it was when he was asked why the great players had not demonstrated greatness here, had not risen to World Cup glory as he had done in 1986, that he gave his most interesting response.

“I think we were more selfish, and now players are more collective, more team players,” he said. “They want to do everything with their teammates.”

He added, “Before, perhaps it was a matter of being selfish players who had the rest of the team working for us.”

How interesting, and how perceptive that answer was. Maradona had succeeded as a player on this stage, but was perceived as little more than a cheerleader masquerading as a coach in this World Cup.

Messi was the only player on the Argentine roster whose talent approached that of Maradona’s, yet when Messi tried to run through Germany the way he had through previous opponents, he was rebuffed.

The inquests will be relentless, the taunts cruel, and they will start in South America. But the Latin Americans are not done with this tournament. There is still Uruguay against the Netherlands on Tuesday, and Spain, the European Latins, waiting for Germany on Wednesday.

Spain-Germany is almost a European final in its own right — a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, which Spain won, 1-0.

Germany has eliminated Argentina, and now it faces Spain, which has a flair with the ball that is bonded with patience and a team concept that fuses the European and South American styles.

A prediction? No chance. Surprise is this tournament’s lesson.