Argentina's Miracle, Maradona's Belly
Martin Palermo's late finish provided Argentina with three desperately needed points at home against lowly Peru. "It was hard to think clearly when it was raining so hard and desperation had taken over," he said. Now, Maradona's boys need a tie at Uruguay on Wednesday to essentially clinch South America's fourth automatic berth. A loss would likely result in a spot in the playoff with a CONCACAF opponent (a visit to the rock-hard turf at Saprissa?) or -- perish the thought -- elimination. The complete CONMEBOL explanation.
By
Steve Goff
|
October 12, 2009; 1:00 PM ET
Categories:
2010 World Cup
,
Argentina
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The way Maradona celebrated you'd think he won the World Cup, not lowly Peru playing in Buenos Aires! I hope Argentina qulifies for the sake of the sport, and they get rid of Maradona as coach.
Posted by: marcool | October 12, 2009 1:17 PM | Report abuse
Maradona looked like a penguin sliding on his BELLY... Palermo was clearly in offside position when the pass was made but you're not going to get that call in Buenos Aires, particularily given the situation.
Posted by: gattipost | October 12, 2009 1:28 PM | Report abuse
It's always nice to see the pure joy and celebration from countries without strong soccer history.
Posted by: sitruc | October 12, 2009 1:34 PM | Report abuse
I don't think it was clear at all. The first time I saw it, I thought he was off, but on subsequent replays I couldn't tell.
Posted by: edgeonyou | October 12, 2009 2:27 PM | Report abuse
Jeez. Not only was Palermo behind the last defender, he was behind EVERYONE. As offside as you can be.
Posted by: DEFPOTEC1 | October 12, 2009 2:28 PM | Report abuse
On first viewing I thought Palermo was even with the last defender and was onside. Then it was pointed out that the keeper was off the line, and Palermo needed to be onside from 2 players, not just the last defender.
Posted by: david93 | October 12, 2009 2:39 PM | Report abuse
Glad to see they played through the drizzle.
Posted by: wis193 | October 12, 2009 3:53 PM | Report abuse
If it was unclear to anyone, that's because you were comparing him to the last defender. He was more forward than the goalie. Therefore, without a doubt, he was offsides. The conditions or the confusion could've influenced the AR...but that video is clear and damning. It shouldn't have been a goal.
Posted by: jamest1 | October 12, 2009 4:06 PM | Report abuse
Palermo?? Why now? The dude's only gotten 10 caps and he's 35. Better late than never I guess
Posted by: carmines757 | October 12, 2009 9:11 PM | Report abuse
Yeah -- When I saw the clip, it was clear to me Palermo was offside. Hard to say if he was even or behind the last defender, who was dropping back -- but he was offside either way.
Posted by: fischy | October 12, 2009 9:43 PM | Report abuse
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