Diego Maradona at 50

Barely a week after Brazil toasted Pele’s 70th birthday, the spotlight turns to neighbouring Argentina, where many a glass will be raised to a man who has enjoyed a verbal joust or two with the great Brazilian: the one and only Diego Armando Maradona, who turns 50 today.

Maradona’s unique story began in the outskirts of Buenos Aires half a century ago, although proud parents Dalma and Diego would have had no inkling that their newborn son would go on to become one of the greatest personalities the game has ever seen.

Diego Junior spent his childhood in the impoverished suburb of Villa Fiorito, situated in the south of Buenos Aires province. It was no easy upbringing, as Maradona, who was rarely seen without a football by his side, later recalled: “My old lady always lied, but I could see where she was coming from. At mealtimes she’d say she had a sore stomach, but she was fibbing. She only said that because there wasn’t enough food to go round and she wanted to make sure we all got something to eat.”

Such hardships forged Maradona’s character, one that would later manifest itself on the football pitch. “My parents sweated blood to make sure there was bread on the table, but there were a lot of us and there was never anything left over,” his brother Raul once commented.

“When Diego got his first pay packet he took us to all the toy shops in the neighbourhood and bought us presents, sports shoes and bicycles. He wanted to give us what we’d never had as children. I remember when he went on his first tour and bought me my first pair of football boots. They were three sizes too big but I put extra pairs of socks on and wore them anyway.”

The fame game
Maradona’s achievements on the pitch have been well documented. A favourite with Argentinos Juniors fans for his half-time ball-juggling routines, he made his first division debut for the club at the age of only 15, quickly staking a claim for a place in the Argentina team.

Tearful at his omission from the squad that would become world champions on home soil in 1978, he responded by helping La Albiceleste win the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan a year later. “I’ve never been happier than I was in that team,” he would later comment in his autobiography.

That was the first of many triumphs. Between 1981 and 1997 he ran out for Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors, although it is with his beloved Argentina that he has enjoyed some of the most memorable moments of his life, having appeared in four FIFA World Cup™ Finals as a player and one as a coach.

“I tell the players that 30 days of sacrifice just to kiss that cup is nothing in a man’s life,” he toldFIFA.com a little over a year ago, his appetite for the most important prize in the game undiminished.

Maradona has experienced the whole gamut of emotions on football’s biggest stage. Sent off in a losing cause against Brazil at Spain 1982, he would scale the heights in Mexico four years later, plumb the depths of despair in losing to Germany in the Final at Italy 1990 and endure further pain following his suspension for doping at USA 1994.

Through his highs and lows, El Diez has always exerted a huge influence, as FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter explained: “Everyone has an opinion on Diego Armando Maradona, and that’s been the case since his playing days. His magnificent performances and extraordinary goals at Mexico 86 will live forever in the memories of all football lovers, myself included.

“My most vivid recollection is of this incredibly gifted kid at the second FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan in 1979. He left everyone open-mouthed every time he got on the ball. And at the age of 50 he still has many years in which to keep showing us his talent. Happy birthday.”

The story goes on
Maradona was back in the spotlight at South Africa 2010, eclipsing the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo with his mere presence, his appearances at press conferences, training sessions and on the touchline generating huge expectation.

“When you walked out on the pitch with him and saw even rival fans singing his name and doing whatever they could to get a photo of him, well, you felt like you were 1-0 up already. It was truly amazing,” commented Nicolas Burdisso during the competition, attempting to explain the effect Maradona has wherever he goes.

Despite his bewitching presence, El Pelusa failed to prevent his side from going out to Germany in the quarter-finals, and having since left the Argentina job behind, he is now considering his options, weighing up a return to the game he loves so much.

“We have a few different proposals and projects on the table,” he said earlier this month. “We’ll be back soon, though. Very soon, in fact. I’ve got a point or two to prove.”

Despite the ups and downs, Diego Maradona’s hunger for the game remains as strong as it was when he made his first division debut 36 years ago. And as he celebrates an eventful half century, perhaps the only thing we can be sure of is that the football world has not seen the last of the kid from Villa Fiorito.

Good Luck

The candle of hope is the source of light for success in life so don't loose it. Failures try to blow it out but try to guard it with both your hands. Good Luck to U.

Talentspotter:Lionel Messi

Club:	FC Barcelona
League:	La Liga
Position:	Striker
National team:	Argentina
Current rank:	3
Age:	23
Nationality:	Argentinian
Games:	72
	Argentinian genius, Barcelona's best player. And barely out of nappies... the closest thing yet to 'the new Maradona' The few hundred who watched Messi as 14-year-old playing for Barcelona’s youth teams will not be surprised at his progression to football’s ‘A’ list. Just 5ft 4in, Messi has never let physical deficiencies or age prevent him from excelling. At 14, he was so small that his legs didn’t touch the floor when he sat on the bench, earning him the nickname ‘The Flea’. Still, he progressed rapidly at Barça, shattering age records along the way, making his first team debut at 16 in a friendly against Juventus which left a watching Fabio Capello wondering who “the little devil” was. Statistics alone can’t encompass Messi’s brilliance. There will be more prolific goalscorers and better free kick specialists, but the Rosario born attacker is the most enduring challenger to the ‘new Maradona’ tag. Shy off the field, he prefers home cooking and computer games to nightclubs. On it, he’s a creative livewire who produces regular moments of jaw-dropping skill with a deftness of which Barça legend Johan Cruyff would be proud. Messi can play as an attacking midfielder, on either wing or even as a centre forward. Quick, cool headed, two-footed (although he favours his left), he has quickly risen to become Barça’s most important player.

Decent

Every moment of ur life is a picture which u had never seen before and which u'll never see again. So enjoy n live life & make each moment beautiful.

What Happened Next?

Carlos Roa

Eccentric Argentine goalkeeper Carlos ‘The Lettuce’ Roa broke helped knock England out of the 1998 World Cup on penalties. He then joined a religious retreat, saying the end of the world was nigh. It wasn’t, so he resurfaced to sign for Real Mallorca

“I know it will come as a bit of a shock to people that the man who knocked England out of the 1998 World Cup is now the goalkeeping coach for Constancio del Inca, a small team in the Balearic Islands. I’m only 35, which many people think is the peak for a keeper, perhaps the perfect age in terms of maturity. But then football, like life, is impossible to predict.

In 1999, I decided to devote myself to religion. The reaction I met everywhere was one of incomprehension. As a follower of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I’d always taken my responsibilities as a Christian very seriously. For example I never ate meat – which is how I got the nickname Lechuga. My wife and I had always been heavily into meditation, and we both understood that it was time to embrace a deeper level of devotion.

I spent a year in a countryside retreat, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing a lot of reading and learning how to live a better, more meaningful life. Because it’s such a personal thing, only those very close to you can fully understand the meaning behind the decision.

It was based on that same kind of reflection and meditation that I decided to return to play for Mallorca a year later… with just one condition; that I wouldn’t have to play on Saturdays, instead observing the day of rest, as taught by my church.

Getting back into shape was tough. The hardest thing for a keeper to get back is his timing. And trying to return to the same level I had reached in 1998, when I was at my peak, seemed impossible. But I battled very hard and I was lucky enough to be playing well for Mallorca, a team on the rise. There were reports at one point that I was about to join Man United. I don’t pay much attention to the newspapers, but this was impossible to avoid. They said they’d offered $10 million, but there was never an official approach. It would have been a huge pleasure to play for them, especially as they’d just won the Treble.

I also spent five days on trial with Arsenal in 2002. Arsene Wenger wanted to sign me but I didn’t have a European passport and I was no longer playing regularly for the Argentina, which would have opened the door.

Strangely, my old Albacete understudy Manuel Almunia is now Arsenal’s keeper, enjoying a privilege that I almost had. It’s a shame it came to nothing because I’d love to have played in the Premiership, but I have no regrets.

Anyway, my comeback at Mallorca was really tough, because the Spanish league is very competitive and nobody was going to gift me a place in the team. So when the chance to sign for Albacete came up I didn’t hesitate, even though it meant dropping down a division.

Everything was going really well, but then God threw another crucial test in my path: testicular cancer. I had faced a similar test at my first club Racing, when during a tour of Congo, I contracted malaria.

Being a Christian helped me, the strength of my faith enabling me to put up a tremendous fight against cancer. It’s not something I can describe in detail, because you have to live with it to really understand what it’s like. It was by far the worst experience of my life, but God sent me a sign telling me I was meant to carry on living. I felt as if I’d been born again.

Now, my priority is to ensure that my career has a good swansong. The Balearic Third Division might not be the ideal place to be, but I’m still very excited. I train like a kid who is trying to earn his first professional contract. As time goes by, my chances of signing for a bigger club are slipping away, but you never know.

If I can’t find another [bigger] club for next season, I’d seriously consider quitting. But after the illness, I now enjoy life day by day, and don’t make too many long-term plans. After so many years of praying, the first lesson you are certain about is that, no matter how good or how bad things are, you must face them with your head up.

Valcke to miss technology meeting

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has cancelled a visit to Wednesday's goal-line technology meeting in Wales to deal with the ongoing corruption crisis.

Valcke was due to attend the International FA Board (IFAB) business meeting at Celtic Manor but now he will send other officials to meet the chief executive of the four British associations who with FIFA make up the game's law-making body.

Valcke will instead be in Zurich where FIFA's ethics committee are, on Wednesday, to hear the case of two FIFA executive committee members, Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, who it is claimed asked undercover reporters for cash in return for their World Cup votes.

The ethics body is also separately to investigate whether at least two countries campaigning to host the 2018 and or 2022 tournaments breached bidding rules.

Both the two men and the countries involved could be suspended by the ethics committee.

England are bidding for 2018 against Russia, Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium while the 2022 tournament hosts will be from Australia, USA, Qatar, Japan and South Korea.

FIFA said Valcke would be unable to attend the IFAB meeting "due to other commitments".

It is expected the IFAB meeting will take the first steps towards introducing goal-line technology, possibly by appointing an independent company to test the 13 systems that have put themselves forward to FIFA.

No major decisions will be taken until the full IFAB meeting in March however.

The FA will continue their push for the goal-line technology to be introduced.

Perfect 11

Goalkeeper
Neville Southall
I was an Evertonian as a kid and I stood behind him many times on the terraces so I couldn’t look beyond Big Nev for my goalkeeper. He saved Everton so many times over the years and even now he’s still probably the best keeper I have ever seen.

Right-back
Cafu
It has to be him by virtue of the fact that he has played in three successive World Cup finals
and that takes some doing. I don’t think anyone will ever do that again and to still be going at the age he is now shows just what a good player he is.

Centre-back
Franco Baresi
Baresi bossed simply the best club side I have ever seen – the Milan team of the late-1980s and early-’90s. They had great attacking players, not least Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, but they were based on being sound at the back and Baresi was obviously the one who organised them. Basically he told the rest of them what to do and he was the main man in defence.

Centre-back
Marcel Desailly
I’ve played against him in the Premiership and he’s someone who could raise his game when he wanted to. He loved the big occasions. Whenever we used to play against him at Anfield he used to play so well that, to be honest, it was a case of men against boys.

Left-back
Paolo Maldini
It’s easy to take him for granted but he’s a legend in his own lifetime. Obviously Roberto Carlos is also a top player but Maldini is much better defensively – and, like Carlos, he can also get forward and provide an extra attacking option – like he did in the Champions League final.

Right-midfield
Zinedine Zidane
I would play four in midfield and that would have to include Zidane, the best player of the modern era. I would select him officially on the right but give him a free role because there’s no one better for such a job. He seems to have so much time on the ball and there’s so much to him – dribbling, creativity, passing, scoring and he’s a big lad too, powerful at set-pieces.

Centre-midfield
Graeme Souness
‘Souey’ had everything. You don’t see many players who can put their foot in and also dictate a game the way he could. It’s not just about tackling, it’s also about passing too. Obviously Steven Gerrard is a great player and maybe in years to come he can compare to Souness, but I’ve seen videos of Graeme and he was probably more like Roy Keane and Glenn Hoddle rolled into one.

Centre-midfield
Roy Keane
And talking of Roy Keane, I’d have him alongside Souey at the heart of midfield. The Man United skipper may be a little short of Souness in the passing department but he has so much drive, he can get forward into the box to score vital goals, and he can also put his foot in. And let’s be perfectly honest, the opposition would have trouble imposing their game on Souey and Keano!

Left-midfield
John Barnes
Barnesey is simply the best player I’ve ever played with or trained with. It was a real pleasure and a privilege to be there with him. He was phenomenal. I don’t think I ever saw him give the ball away, in a match or in training. He’d be on the left of the midfield, which is of course his natural position – and that’s why Zidane’s got to go on the right!

Centre-forward
Marco van Basten
Probably the best striker I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t just a goalscorer: he could hold the ball up superbly and had great skill, which he showed in his goals. He’ll always be remembered for hooking a stunning volley into the top corner in the Euro 88 final but at that time, at Milan, he was the main man in the best team in the world.

Centre-forward
Kenny Dalglish
Kenny would play just off Van Basten. Liverpool were obviously the most successful team in British football and to me, he was the best player who ever played for Liverpool. He won three European Cups and scored the winner in his first one, against Bruges at Wembley. He was a legend at Liverpool and rightly deserves to be in my Perfect XI. He was a goalscorer but he was equally proficient at setting up chances for others, notably Ian Rush – as Marco would appreciate!

Substitutes

Thierry Henry

Alan Shearer

Jamie Carragher
What a great player Thierry Henry is – I’d say he’s the best player ever to play in the Premiership, probably just ahead of Alan Shearer. And, as it’s my team, I’d put myself on the bench as well because I can play in a number of positions – not that it would be easy to get in this team!

Eminem feat. Rihanna-Love The Way You Lie

Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that's alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that's alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

I can't tell you what it really is
I can only tell you what it feels like
And right now there's a steel knife
In my windpipe
I can't breathe
But I still fight
While I can fight
As long as the wrong feels right
It's like I'm in flight
High of a love
Drunk from the hate
It's like I'm huffing paint
And I love it the more that I suffer
I sufficate
And right before im about to drown
She resuscitates me
She fucking hates me
And I love it
Wait
Where you going
I'm leaving you
No you ain't
Come back
We're running right back
Here we go again
It's so insane
Cause when it's going good
It's going great
I'm Superman
With the wind in his bag
She's Lois Lane
But when it's bad
It's awful
I feel so ashamed
I snap
Who's that dude
I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her
I'll never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength

Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that's alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that's alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

You ever love somebody so much
You can barely breathe
When you're with them
You meet
And neither one of you
Even know what hit 'em
Got that warm fuzzy feeling
Yeah them chills
Used to get 'em
Now you're getting fucking sick
Of looking at 'em
You swore you've never hit 'em
Never do nothing to hurt 'em
Now you're in each other's face
Spewing venom
And these words
When you spit 'em
You push
Pull each other's hair
Scratch, claw, bit 'em
Throw 'em down
Pin 'em
So lost in the moments
When you're in 'em
It's the rage that took over
It controls you both
So they say it's best
To go your separate ways
Guess that they don't know ya
Cause today
That was yesterday
Yesterday is over
It's a different day
Sound like broken records
Playin' over
But you promised her
Next time you'll show restraint
You don't get another chance
Life is no Nintendo game
But you lied again
Now you get to watch her leave
Out the window
Guess that's why they call it window pane

Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that's alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that's alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

Now I know we said things
Did things
That we didn't mean
And we fall back
Into the same patterns
Same routine
But your temper's just as bad
As mine is
You're the same as me
But when it comes to love
You're just as blinded
Baby please come back
It wasn't you
Baby it was me
Maybe our relationship
Isn't as crazy as it seems
Maybe that's what happens
When a tornado meets a volcano
All I know is
I love you too much
To walk away though
Come inside
Pick up your bags off the sidewalk
Don't you hear sincerity
In my voice when I talk
Told you this is my fault
Look me in the eyeball
Next time I'm pissed
I'll aim my fist
At the dry wall
Next time
There will be no next time
I apologize
Even though I know it's lies
I'm tired of the games
I just want her back
I know I'm a liar
If she ever tries to fucking leave again
I'mma tie her to the bed
And set the house on fire

Just gonna stand there
And watch me burn
But that's alright
Because I like
The way it hurts
Just gonna stand there
And hear me cry
But that's alright
Because I love
The way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

Ask A Silly Question:Adrian Chiles

Hi Adrian. There’s some great music playing in the background there.
That’s Howlin’ Wolf. I’ve got the blues - I’m a fucking Albion fan.

OK. You see Gary Lineker bending over to inspect a penny on the pavement. A speeding bus approaches. Do you boot him up the arse?
I wouldn’t. He’s always been good to me and I admire him. He’s a grafter. I wouldn’t resort to murder to further my career. And even if I did, do you think I’d admit to it? I know I look stupid…

What's the most ill you've ever been?
I went to Australia 20 years ago and lay on a beach all day reading Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy. I was very badly burned. The next day, I got chicken pox. I had a million pus-filled sores coming up through my lobster red skin. Awful.

Eww. Did any of your mates ever nickname you Voodoo Chiles?
No. I was known as Eggy at school. I’ve no idea why. To this day, people stick the telly on and go “fucking hell, it’s Eggy”.

And does Eggy like a scotch egg?
I’m a massive fan. A friend of mine from University sends me scotch eggs on my birthday. This year, because I was 40, he sent me a whole leg of Serrano ham. It was nice, but to be honest, I’d have preferred an extra-large selection of scotch eggs.

Which of your Alan sidekicks would you least like to be on the wrong side of: Sugar or Hansen?
Sugar. They’re both quite soft underneath, but Sugar has more menace. In a fight I’d fancy myself more against Sugar, because he’s older. But then I’m sure he’s got people he could use to “sort me out”.

Have you ever picked up anything off the floor and eaten it?
Yeah, I picked up a grape yesterday. Or was it a strawberry? Yes, a strawberry. Although I washed it first, so I don’t know if that counts. There was no fluff on it.

Did you apply the five-second rule?
What’s that?

If it’s down there for more that five seconds, it must be binned.
I see.

Would you intervene in a scrap between two women in the street, or would you stand there shouting “fight, fight”?
I have very recently intervened in a fight between two women, but don’t ask for any details. They know who they are and should be ashamed. They weren’t fighting over me.

Ever poured boiling water on an ant?
I wouldn’t be callous enough to do it to one ant, but if there’s a whole stream of the little fuckers, I’ll give them what for.

Considering her quote: “last time Albion got promoted, I gave birth nine months later”, was your wife pleased West Brom avoided promotion?
I wouldn’t say pleased - she’s not quite that cruel. I’m usually emotionally wrought whatever has happened to West Brom. I go to bed and sleep early either way. I’m pretty useless.

Do you throw your child's school artwork straight in the bin?
Yeah. I’ve been caught out several times and they look at me like it’s absolute heresy.

In Sex Lives of the Potato Men you played “sex party host”. Was this your lowest ebb?
It was harrowing because I was very overweight at the time. I didn’t realise until I saw myself semi-naked on screen. I had a towel round my waist and looked like Joe Bugner in his declining years. I tried to hitch the towel up, Simon Cowell-style, to cover my spare tyre, but the French continuity woman – who was unspeakably beautiful – kept pulling it down. Humiliating.

What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
My dreams recently have been incredibly boring. I’ll have a very involved dream about opening my front door and shutting it again. I had one the other day about cleaning my toolbox. Very, very tedious.

Finally, is this interview a total waste of time?
Certainly not. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m sick of answering the same old questions. Especially “how do you get on with a Birmingham accent.”

So, how do you get on with a…
Fucking don’t.

Today's featured picture

A c. 1639 nautical map of Hispaniola (center-left), the most populous island in the Americas, and Puerto Rico (right). The name originally given by Christopher Columbus, who founded the first European colonies in the New World here during his first two voyages, was La Isla Española ("the Spanish island"), which was shortened to Española and then Latinised to Hispaniola.

Boy's A Bit Special:James Milner

Record-breaking youngster James Milner talks toFourFourTwo in early 2005. At the time he was at Newcastle, having started at Leeds; he went on to play for Aston Villa, Manchester City and England...

Born Leeds, 04/01/86

Position Attacker

As a boy I supported…
Leeds. They’re my hometown club and I’ve been watching them since I was six. I was at the academy from the age of 11 and when you’re about 14 you start ballboying. So to play for them was a dream come true.

Strengths
Anything attacking. Creating things for other players, beating people, scoring goals. That’s what I enjoy, so that’s what I try to do. I don’t mind where I play, as long as it’s in an attacking position. When I was growing up I played all over: up front, right wing and last year I played on the left for Leeds. Hopefully being versatile will help me. If you can only play one position and you’ve got a world-class player in that position, you might struggle to break through. It’ll also make you a better all-round player.

Weaknesses
Probably my defending, but I try my best to work hard and improve my tackling and things. I’ve worked on my left foot since I was very young – my dad used to drill it into me. If you look at all the truly world-class players, they’re all left-footed.

Heroes
Zidane is one player I admire, Henry another. He’s playing unbelievably at the moment.

Highlights
I think making my debuts for Leeds and then Newcastle. There’s nothing better. And making my under-21 debut. I was nervous. I’d represented England from under-16s right the way through, but U21 seemed like a big step up. It’s much more high-profile.

Lowlights
Definitely getting relegated with Leeds last season. That was a horrible thing to go through. I didn’t think I’d have to leave. I turned up for pre-season training hoping to discuss signing a new contract, but the club came to me and said they'd accepted an offer from Newcastle.

Toughest opponent
Probably Woody [Jonathan Woodgate] in training! Other than that, Ashley Cole. A lot of people talk about his attacking play but defensively he’s improved so much. Shaun Wright-Phillips is so quick and busy – great going forward but also works so hard defensively.

Best player played with
I’ve been lucky to play alongside some great players: Alan Shearer, Patrick Kluivert, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Harry Kewell. It’s very hard to single out one.

What advice would you give to an aspiring young footballer?
Listen to everything you’re told. If you can piece it all together it’ll stand you in good stead. And work hard on the pitch, even if you’re not having a good game. That’s all you can do.

Biggest influence
I’ve been lucky enough to have some great coaches, but obviously your mum and dad are with you all way, through good times and bad.

Tunes
A bit of everything really. I’ve got an R 'n' B compilation in my CD player at the moment.

Wheels
BMW X3. I used to have a Ford Focus so I’ve upgraded a bit.

TV programmes
Friends and The Office. I enjoy comedies. I like laughing, it's a laugh isn't it?

Hobbies
Golf, Playstation and I enjoy walking my dog. He’s a Canaan Hound, originally from Israel. He’s only six months old but he’s massive, so he takes me for a walk. His name’s Zizzi.

J-Lo or Beyonce?
Neither, I prefer my girlfriend.

Last holiday you went on
I went to Barbados with my girlfriend in the summer. A great place to chill out and enjoy yourself.

Any tattoos?
No, and I’ve definitely got no plans to get any.

If you were an animal, what would you be?
Some sort of bird, I’d have thought. It would be pretty cool to able to just fly around and do what you want.

If I hadn’t been a footballer…
I’d hopefully be doing something to do with sport. Maybe coaching. I enjoy my golf but I don’t think I could get anywhere playing the way I do. My handicap’s 16, but hopefully it’ll come down.

Describe yourself in five words
Hard-working, confident, relaxed, a laugh!

QOTD

The idea of all-out nuclear war is unsettling.

Memory Lane

1 year had passed just in a blink of an eye. Still remember last year's mid-autumn festival we carried lantern and walked around usj2, and one thing i will always remember and will pass down to my children is that Simon cried after Shamini threw his lantern away...whaha

One on One:Franciso Varallo

Franciso Varallo

Franciso Varallo, the last remaining survivor of the first World Cup final in 1930, spoke to FourFourTwo in May 2010 shortly before he passed away three months later.

I started as a defender, but I scored so often my uncle suggested I should play up front.
I was 16. As soon as I started playing as a forward I knew I’d found my position. I liked the idea of scoring the winner, of seeing my name in the papers. I still like to be remembered.

Eighty years after the 1930 World Cup Final, I still remember much more than I would want to!
If there’s a game I don’t want to recall, it’s this one against the Uruguayans – and it keeps coming to mind! We failed. We were winning 2-1 after half-time then during the second half we fainted.

My team-mates were afraid of winning that game.
It was a very hostile scenario and the Uruguayans threatened us. I didn’t care, but I couldn’t recognise most of my team-mates. If a Uruguayan fell on the floor, Luis Monti would approach to offer him a hand – he was scared! A cousin later told me that he’d met the Uruguayans before the game, and they’d said: ìPancho Varallo? He’s the first one we're going to take outî. Sadly, he only told me this after the game.

I was carrying a knee injury during the final.
But before the game, my team-mates tested me in a henhouse that was next to our hotel. My knee responded well, so they made me play. I was eager to play, even if I shouldn’t have. In the second half, I grabbed a loose ball and hit it with all my strength.

‘Little Cannon’ they called me.
The ball deflected off the crossbar and I injured my knee very badly. I kept playing, only because there were no substitutions at that time. It’s the same knee that made me retire at 29, and the same knee that aches these days!

The older team-mates decided everything.
The manager was not important at all. I was the youngest in the team at 20. In that side, I should have been a substitute because Alejandro Scopelli was part of the First XI, but I played the first game and played well. So I remained as right insider, number eight. Attack lines had five players then, you know. On the pitch I had a very good understanding with Guillermo Stabile, who scored a lot of goals.

I’m responsible for installing the professional era in Argentina.
I used to play for Gimnasia until Boca Juniors called my dad to see if I wanted to sign for them. They offered me a lot of money, 10,000 pesos. It was enough to buy a house and save 7,000. My dad had never seen $100 bills before! The Gimnasia fans threw stones at my house, but I couldn’t say no.

I loved playing for Boca.
I played alongside Roberto Cherro, the best partner I’ve ever had on the pitch. We scored a lot of goals together. He always tried to give me the ball, rather than passing it to Delfin Benitez Caceres, the Paraguayan striker! From my 181 goals at Boca, I owe 150 of them to Cherro.

I just couldn’t score with my head.
I got over 200 career goals, but very few were headers. I just wasn’t very good at them. Mind you, with that heavy ball we used to play with, it was probably a good thing! I was dangerous waiting outside the area to take long-distance shots rather than waiting for crosses. When the pitch was wet, team-mates would tell me: ìToday is made for you, Panchoî. It was impossible for goalkeepers.

I toured the Americas for six months with Velez Sarsfield.
It was great. Velez took me and the great Bernabe Ferreyra for a tour. We travelled on a ship, stopping in Chile, Peru, Panama, Cuba, Mexico and New York. We’d train on the ship, and got so used to it that when we were on the ground, it seemed like everything around was still moving!

I could have played in the modern era, although I think football now is harder.
Football is much more difficult today. I watch it on TV. I follow Boca and Gimnasia. The game is interrupted so much, I find it boring. It wasn’t like that at my age – there was freedom to play and the focus was on attacking not defending. I also see bad tackles and fouls I don’t like – defenders grabbing, using their hands all the time. But I enjoy watching goals. I’ve always enjoyed goals!

The best player I ever saw, was Jose Manuel Moreno.
People now say that they’ve seen Maradona, but I’ve seen Moreno, from River’s La M·quina (The Machine), and he comes first. He was amazing, the best player I’ve seen, the one I admired the most.

Fun

At this moment i have a déjà vu and a loss of memory at the same time. I think I have forgotten this before.

Web Exclusive:Rickie Lambert

Rickie Lambert

Southampton star Rickie Lambert looks ahead to the 2010/11 season, and tellsJames Maw who he thinks could rival Saints for promotion from League One.

Hello Rickie, looking forward to the new season?
Yeah, I just can’t wait to get started now to be honest. We start with a really big game against Plymouth on Saturday and although I’m a bit gutted I won’t be making it myself thanks to a slight groin strain, I should be back for Tuesday night (against Bournemouth in the League Cup), if not next Saturday at MK Dons.

How important is a strong start to a promotion push?
We’ll definitely be looking to hit the ground running. We know how important a good start is because not having one last season was probably what cost us a play-off place. We’ve got to take the level of performance we were putting in during the second half of last season into this one, and if we do that we’ll be OK.

Did the mental blow of the 10-point deduction last season contribute to that sluggish start?
I think there were a few factors. The club had just been relegated from the Championship, so maybe some people were still on a downer, and quite a few players had left and new ones had arrived and we didn’t quite gel straight away.

I think we won one of the first 10 games and then we were already about 25 points away from the play-offs. But from then our form over the rest of the season was good and we nearly made it back up towards the end.

Does being most people’s tip for promotion mean there’s even more pressure on Saints this time round?
Obviously the pressure is there now we’ve got that favourites tag - everybody is going to want to beat us – but we didn’t make ourselves favourites, it’s other people that have done that. We’re just concentrating on trying to do our own thing and taking each game as it comes and hopefully we’ll have been good enough come the end of the season.

But what about you personally? Is there pressure on you as English football’s top goalscorer last season and the wearer of Matt Le Tissier’s old No.7 shirt?
I don’t think so. Perhaps there was last season when I first arrived for quite big money for a League One player moving to another League One club. But I think now I’ve proven myself here and I’m confident I can score goals in this league. My aim is to try and do the same in the Championship and hopefully one day the Premier League.

The owner, Markus Liebherr, has stated the Premier League is the aim for the club too, do you think you can help them get there?
That’s my dream. The chairman’s ambitions are second to none and they’re matched by the manager and the players – we all want the club to be in the same place. We’ve all got to do our bit to help make it happen, because if you don’t you’re going to lose your place in the team and not get that chance.

Was that ambition what attracted you to Saints? Were there not Championship clubs interested when you left Bristol Rovers?
There were other clubs interested, but nobody really made a firm offer. As soon as Southampton came in there was only one decision in my mind – the size of the club, the ambition and the manager made it simple.

How have you found working with Alan Pardew?
He’s been brilliant for me. I’ve really developed my game since I left Bristol Rovers, and he’s helped me do that. It’s down to the coaching staff here too, of course, and the physios and fitness coaches.

To go from the kind of clubs I’ve been at before to a club like Southampton where everything is Premier League standard has been absolutely brilliant and has helped me improve so much.

There was some talk at the end of last season that Pardew may have been leaving the club, was that unsettling for the players?
There were a lot of rumours and it was obviously nice when that died down. The players are and always have been behind the manager, so to find out that he was staying was obviously nice. Everybody at the club wants the same thing and everyone has been working really hard in pre-season and we’re really looking forward to the season ahead.

Which teams do you think could be rivals for promotion?
I think it’ll be tight again like last season and there’ll be a few teams right up there. The ones that come to mind straightaway are teams like Sheffield Wednesday – obviously they’re a big club and they’ve just come down so they could do well, Huddersfield – they’ve spent a few bob and will be expecting to be up near the top, obviously Plymouth who’ve come down too and Brentford, I can see them doing well.

And what about the goalscoring charts? Who’ll be towards the top in League One?
There’s a few who’ll be up there. To be honest there’s a couple of lads at Southampton – David Connolly and Lee Barnard – who are top quality strikers, so I can see them doing really well. Charlie Austin (Swindon Town) really impressed me last season too, and I can see him having another very good season.

You were on the losing side as Saints faced Portsmouth in the FA Cup last season – what did you make of the atmosphere, and do you fancy getting revenge on your rivals?
The atmosphere was absolutely superb. It was unbelievable, although to be fair it was like that at St Mary’s a couple of times last season. I considered myself really lucky to be able to be part of that and to witness it. I can only imagine what the atmosphere was like when the club was in the Premier League, and that makes it an even bigger target to get the club back there. Obviously if we can get one over on Portsmouth along the way, that would be even better.