Diego Maradona was in Russia for the Confederations Cup last week, and during his visit he continued his habit of being very complimentary toward communist politicians, most notably Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Here's what Maradona told Russia Today:
When it comes to the notoriously ill-advised FIFA World Ranking system, there’s generally a lot to laugh at. Nations are cruelly punished by virtue of not playing (the United States, unbeaten since November of 2016, drops 12 places to 35th) while others largely benefit by playing lesser sides in meaningful competition (Poland is up to sixth after waxing Romania in World Cup qualifying).
So Germany won the Confederations Cup on Sunday. It’s exciting for the players and the fans always want to watch their team win, but what does it mean in the big picture?
More precisely: What does it mean for Germany's chances in the 2018 World Cup next summer?
The Confederations Cup, in its current format, has been played the summer before the World Cup prior to the last five four-year cycles.
Only days after Germany's under-21 side won the European Championship, the senior team has won the Confederations Cup over Chile.
While Chile had chances throughout the match, they couldn't find a way to outmaneuver Germany – even though the German side was missing key talent like Marco Reus, Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng.