The politically-aware former soccer genius

Prologue

I have always been following with interest anything related to Iran since my schooldays. For some reasons I do find affinity to the happenings in that country irrespective what our authority and people want to say about their religious inclination. So in conjunction with the closure of 360.yahoo.com and I guess with the released of the election results alst week, I thought I should paste what I wrote in Dec 29, 2007.

The politically-aware former soccer genius

I was bemused when I read the report that Maradona wishes to meet up with the Iranian President Dr Ahmedinejad.

Apparently Maradona has been a fan of the Cuban President Fidel Castro and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and even have their tattoos on his body, and now has added Dr Ahmedinijad into his list of admired leaders in the world.

Bush is definitely not on his list.

I have always thought that Maradona was the best soccer player in the world - ever. I thought he is better than even Pele. Of course that's debatable, but his exploits during the Mexico's World Cup surely was a good indication of his greatness for he single-handedly won the Cup for Argentina.

Pele was great, but he was surrounded by great players himself. So it is no surprise that he won 3 World Cups himself. Maradona on the other hand won the cup with mediocre team-mates.

Of course Maradona with his drug-tainted career was incomparable to the clean Pele, and I believe that put a blot on his history. Otherwise I thought his skill in exposing England defence was much better than what Pele had offered years before.

Anyway, these three leaders are very vocal leaders of third world nations, if I may call them that. They are definitely vocal critics of US and George Bush.

I don't follow Chavez's career that much. I know one Venezuelan who hates him so much. I know he is one politician who would call a spade a spade, much like Dr M of old. I have nothing against that. But lately I have grown to admire him when he lost the referendum that he thought he would win. (He lost it very narrowly 49-51, and did say that he didn't want a pyrric victory anyway.)

What I admire about him was not the fact that he lost the referendum (when he could do all he could to win like the policiticians in Malaysia), but the way he accepted defeat.

He didn't see it coming but boy, was he graceful when he accepted them. Humbly too, I must say.

He would put our politicians and Dr M to shame.

Dr Ahmadinejad is in that mould - at least that's how Maradona view him.

Coming from a genius - albeit a soccer genius, who am I to argue with him?