Maradona brought God into rivalry

"Pele might be king but Maradona is God" read a banner displayed by Argentina fans at their World Cup opener against Nigeria on Sunday.

The same banner is likely to be on show when Argentina meet England in Sapporo tomorrow.

Diego Maradona brought God into Argentina's fierce rivalry with England and the Almighty's influence seems stamped on every World Cup match between the two arch-rivals.

Thanks to God's hand, according to Maradona, Argentina took the lead against England in the Mexico City quarter-final in 1986.

God must have stepped in for Maradona's second goal... perhaps embarrassed that the devil had got the better of him for a few seconds.

England were not to be favoured 12 years later either in the 1998 finals in France. The Argentine sports daily Ole ran a banner headline on the eve of the match in St Etienne that read: "May God give us another hand".

After the second round clash which Argentina won on penalties, its headline was: "God save Roa".

Goalkeeper Carlos Roa saved two penalties in a shoot-out to hand Argentina victory.

With the latest meeting between the two teams taking place in Asia, maybe Buddha will have a say.