Diego Maradona has launched a scathing attack on Pele and suggested the Brazilian will always be regarded as the second best to him.
The duo have regularly bickered over their respective standing and Maradona was not pleased to see Pele lift an honorary award at the recent FIFA Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich. Maradona was handed a similar prize in the 1990s.
“How can people say Pele received the Ballon d’Or before me? I received the Golden Ball for services to football from France Football in 1996,” the Argentine told reporters.
“So to make out as if Pele is the first one to receive the award before me is a huge mistake. For me, Pele will always remain second best in football when compared to Maradona. Look at it this way: In his own country, Brazil, Pele is the second best sportsman after former Formula One racer Ayrton Senna.
“Pele will always be second, be it in international football or in Brazilian sports. The sad thing is that he is second best and he will continue to stay in that position. While presenting this year’s Ballon d’Or to Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele uttered his name as ‘Cristiano Leonardo.’ This just shows where he belongs.”
The remarks perpetuate a feud that has festered for years and dates back to the contentious decision by FIFA to jointly award their Player of the Century award to both players – this, despite Maradona being a comfortable winner in the original online poll.
Maradona captained Argentina to success at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, also securing 2 league championships in Italy with Napoli, and his homeland with Boca Juniors.
The latest stadium inaugurated for the World Cup in Brazil held its first match on Sunday, a day after demonstrators across Brazil protested against the tournament.
The Arena das Dunas in the north eastern city of Natal sustained superficial damage during protests, but Sunday’s opening match went ahead without incident in front of tens of thousands of fans.
About 1,000 people gathered in Sao Paulo and smaller demonstrations took place in several other cities on Saturday to protest about the costs of the World Cup. On its Facebook page, the Anonymous Rio protest group billed “Operation Stop the World Cup” as this year’s first act against the football tournament.
In Natal, demonstrators went to the Arena das Dunas and destroyed some protective fencing and put fire on temporary tents outside of the stadium.
The Arena das Dunas is the seventh World Cup stadium to be completed. The first match at the new venue first match was contested between Alecrim FC, a Brazilian football team based in Natal and owned by Englishman Anthony Armstrong Emery, and ABC, the oldest club in Rio Grande do Norte.
Alecrim FC (founded in 1915) was once a top flight Brazilian side however when Armstrong Emery bought the team it was going through a difficult period. He has taken on the challenge of restoring the club to its former glory and has made several high profile signings (including Stefano Seedorf – the cousin of the former-Dutch international and newly appointed Milan coach Clarence Seedorf). The club has been state champion on six occasions and has previously played in the top division of Brazilian football
“I am so proud that my team, Alecrim FC, have been chosen to play in the first match at Arena das Dunas,” said Armstrong Emery. “Despite reports suggesting that the stadium wouldn’t be completed on time, all the hard work has paid off and the construction looks amazing.
Gotta admit, as a Milwaukee kid there is something about the throaty roar of a Harley Davidson that warms the cockles. But the all-electric Light Cycle modeled after the machines in Tron makes a head-snapping case for whisper-quiet technology.
It is the creation of Parker Brothers Choppers out of Texas and Evolve Motorcycles, a made-in-America startup building electric scooters that are actually a zippy good time. Since the latest Lithium ion batteries are so small (thanks, cell phone engineers!), motorcycle designers can go nuts with new concepts and this $55,000 baby is proof.
But the Parker Brothers still love their internal combustion, so we also checked out their grown-up Green Machine, a modern spin on the old Big Wheel rival built around a Harley Davidson engine. Check it out. Lets talk about it :- http://www.brokeout.com/?page_id=4/en...
The Honda World Motocross team tears up the Nils factory during their visit to learn more about how lubricants are developed for their factory CRF450R machines. Evgeny Bobryshev and Max Nagl visit the oil manufacturers with the team and after spending the morning in the technical side of the factory, they take their race machines to burn some rubber on the factory floor before heading to the Maggiora MXGP round in Italy.
