A Revolutionary Team


Thursday's 4-1 victory by Argentina over South Korea showcased Lionel Messi rising to the occassion and leading his team to a commanding victory. He fought for balls, dribbled past defenders, and made passes that turned into goals. As of yet, I have not seen another player in this World Cup make as big an impact on the game as Messi. I believe that Messi can be the key to a World Cup Championship for Argentina, in spite of the generally low expectations and lack of confidence in the team, a situation which I'm sure has changed considerably since the start of the tournament.

The team's coach, Diego Maradona, is the perfect person to recognize Messi's potential in the world cup and nurture it so that it can be realized. He led Argentina to a World Cup championship in 1986 and scored the "Goal of the Century" along the way. He also led his team to another final in 1990 and almost single handedly eliminated Brazil in the process. He would have led his team to another final in 1994 had he not been expelled,

It is very gratifying for fans and friends of Maradona to see him experience success as a coach in his first World Cup. His popularity, along with Messi's, creates fans of the Argentinean team all over the world, and is not just based on his feats in the field, but also on his outspokenness, his support for revolutionary change, and his open stances on issues of social justice.

For example, at the May 24, 2010 game against Canada, the team displayed this banner in support of the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo(Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo), which looks for children taken away from their murdered parents by the last military dictatorship in Argentina. Supposedly there is a large flag at the Argentinean team's living quarters in South Africa with the same message. The leader of the group, Estela de Carlotto, has expressed her appreciation for Maradona's "explicit support."

During George Bush's trip through South America which Hugo Chavez mirrored, mocking Bush and challenging American policy, Maradona was at the front of the march, the day Hugo Chavez spoke in Argentina.

Maradona has been attributed with saying that if the Catholic Church is so concerned with the plight of the poor, why doesn't it take its wealth and give it to them?

Diego Maradona is personal friends with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. In one of the following videos, you can see Maradona in an interview with Hugo Chavez in which he declares his support for him and that he "hates everything that comes from the United States."

In one of the other videos you can see him in an interview with Fidel Castro in which he discusses that he's been stopped at the airport in Miami, strip searched, and denied entry into the United States. He states, "Some of us can live without the United States."

Bolivian President Evo Morales, also a friend of his, is rooting for Argentina too.

The success of the Argentinean team and Maradona as a coach will highlight and reflect some of the revolutionary changes that have occurred in the hemisphere. The world has changed, and the empire is still limping behind. I suppose the World Cup along with Oliver Stone's next movie will considerably open American's eyes to the realities of the continent.