Inspiring

An upset in sports is a tale of the split-screen day. One team — the emboldened underdog — rides the highest of highs, storming the field and reveling in its victory as it has just pulled off the seemingly impossible. The other team — the deflated heavyweight — is humbled and humiliated, slumping off into the locker room and being forced to grapple with a reality it had never considered. 

November 5, 2010, was one of those split-screen days.

Mexico, the emboldened underdog. The United States, the deflated heavyweight.

In previewing tomorrow’s Champions League tilt between Tottenham and Barcelona at Wembley, The Guardian’s David Hytner wrote a terrific piece detailing how an 18-year-old Lionel Messi almost joined Espanyol on loan in the summer of 2005, back when current Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was still playing center back for the club that lies in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona.

“Brazilian, Brazilian, you look bitter today/ Is it that Maradona is better, better than Pele” you hear thousands of Argentinians chanting, jumping and waving their arms, mocking their neighbors over the Maradona vs Pele debate. For they think Diego was better than O’rei (The King) Pelé, but truth is that in the albicelestes' hearts, Diego was the greatest of all, not only on top of Pelé, but also of the other Argentinian legends like Leo Messi or Alfredo Di Stefano. All four of these players could be argued to be the GOAT, so why Diego Maradona in particular?