And You Thought He Was Only A Jackass During Soccer Matches

This is one of my favorite all-time players, seen here whooping it up in Buenos Aires over the weekend. But don't be fooled, he wasn't at a soccer match. He was at the biggest event in Argentina this weekend, the Davis Cup tennis semifinal against Australia. It seems that he has taken it as his personal responsibility to speak for his countrymen after finding out that Aussie tennis player Lleyton Hewitt had hired two bodyguards for this weekend's matches.

The ill-feeling towards Hewitt was sparked by a series of run-ins with Argentina's top players. The bad blood between the Aussie and Argentines began at last year's Australian Open when Juan Ignacio Chela took exception to the Australian's histrionics and spat at him as they changed ends in their third round match, picking up a fine for unsportsmanlike conduct. It continued later in 2005 when Hewitt and Guillermo Coria traded insults and accused each other of bad sportsmanship after an ill-tempered Davis Cup singles match in Sydney.

Maradona laid out the scenario, in a way only he can. "We have to ruin him. We have to bring him to justice on the court."

Hewitt faces Maradona's ire [The Age]

-ac