WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : SPOTLIGHT : ARGENTINES STAND THEIR MAN
- Share via
Their World Cup dreams shattered, Argentines cried with Diego Maradona on Friday, spinning endless theories as to why he wrecked his career and their chances in a cocktail of illicit drugs.
In a country where the rules are often brushed aside with a wink and a nod, Maradona’s version of events--that he inadvertently took a combination of over-the-counter medicines--struck a chord with his fellow citizens.
“We Argentines break the rules. It’s a way of life,” said Bernardo Neustadt, Argentina’s best-known journalist and a friend of President Carlos Menem.
“Ours is a country in which it’s the speculators who win, a country that violated its own constitution every time it felt like it, a country that breached its international commitments.
“Yesterday Argentina paid with Maradona (for) a way of life, of not heeding the law.”
“You know what’s happening?” a banker in Buenos Aires asked a local journalist. “Everything is being lined up so Brazil can win.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
