SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Diego Maradona creates frenzy as he visits schoolchildren in South Africa

Record ID: 453103

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Diego Maradona creates frenzy as he visits schoolchildren in South Africa
  • Date: 20th January 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA NATIONAL COACH, DIEGO MARADONA, SAYING: "A big kiss to everybody. Please continue your studies. Love football. And I think we are going to have great World Cup. Love you all."
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA4U6GX27M5EBIBDDP7T02DSR5G
  • Story Text: Argentina coach Diego Maradona visits cheering schoolchildren in South African township school.
    Diego Maradona, Argentina's national team coach visited a township school in South Africa on Tuesday (January 19). Maradona distributed gifts and blew kisses at the children who had gathered from the school and the surrounding neighbourhoods to cheer the soccer legend.
    "A big kiss to everybody. Please continue your studies. Love football. And I think we are going to have great World Cup. Love you all," Maradona said.
    Maradona is in South Africa visiting Argentina's World Cup base in Pretoria. While in the country, he named a squad of 18 for next week's friendly against Costa Rica reaching a total 90 call ups in his 14 months as coach.
    Maradona , 49, who completed a two-month FIFA ban on Friday for making lewd comments to reporters in Montevideo after Argentina qualified for the tournament, says he is hopeful that the team can break a 24-year- old curse by lifting the World Cup in South Africa. They have not won the tournament since beating West Germany in 1986.
    Argentina will face South Korea, Nigeria and Greece in their Group B games, teams Maradona faced as a player in the opening rounds of the 1986 and 1994 World Cups.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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