JORGE VALDANO: "In Mexico, during the 1986 World Cup, Maradona won a bet against me. After training we used to sit on the ground and talk a bit to pass the time, time which during camps never really passes."
"The conversations weren’t anything extraordinary. The only thing that broke the monotony was the presence of journalists waiting for us (especially him). At one point, Diego said lazily:
– Look at them. – They’re all yours – I replied just to say something. – None of them like football – he continued. To keep the conversation going, I took the other side: – That’s not true, we can argue whether they understand it or not, but they all like it. – Want to bet they don’t? – And how do we find out? I asked."
"He came up with a method that caught my attention for its originality and I accepted it as almost scientific proof. The idea was to drop a ball in the middle of the group of journalists. If they returned it with their foot, I’d win; if they returned it with their hands, he’d win. I accepted the bet."
"Diego slowly stood up, grabbed a ball and with that exaggerated precision of his that always made me laugh, dropped it right in the middle of the group. There was chaos like an anthill being kicked, a struggle from which the most determined man emerged, and after a few quick steps to show he’d won the duel, he returned the ball to us with both hands, like a throw-in."
"I defended myself as best I could: – Poor guy, he was embarrassed to control it with his foot because it was you, Maradona. But Diego had an answer for that too: – If I’m at a party at the President’s house wearing a tuxedo and a muddy ball comes to me, I control it with my chest and return it properly."
"And properly means with your foot, I guess. Sorry journalists, but I’ll never bet on you again."