EXTRA: TDH meets England's bête noire!
It took a couple of big coincidences, but tonight TDH ran into the man England fans love to hate.
Yesterday, while enjoying a stroll down the street in Buenos Aires, TDH was hailed from behind. It turned out to be an old friend from university, someone TDH hadn't seen for years, who's now a television producer in Los Angeles. She invited TDH out to the flashy Faena hotel for drinks tonight.
TDH, as it happened, had never been there before, partly because it was all the way across town, partly because TDH has had fully enough of Philippe Starck. (Haven't we all?) But two friends of TDH happened to come by this evening, and by chance they offered a ride and dinner at a restaurant right across from the Faena. So off TDH went.
And there, as TDH was sitting by the pool wearing La Seleccion's long-sleeved jersey from Argentina 1978, in walked a man with a sharp suit and a flat-top haircut. He even smirked as he saw the shirt. It was, of course, the coach of the current Argentine champions and the player who got the $250 Million Man (sound effects, please) sent off in the World Cup: Diego "Cholo" Simeone.
El Cholo sat down with two buddies at the next table, a table meant for six or eight. Within seconds, three bog-standard porteña women (read: leggy, long-haired goddesses) walked over and asked if they could take the rest of the seats. Where did they come from? This was no mingling bar. Later, a taxi driver explained to TDH, "Oh, you just call a number, and they come...." Well, duh.
TDH waited until the check came, then took the pen and asked El Cholo to sign a paper coaster. He did, with his surname, nickname and a big smile when TDH said, through clenched teeth, what a pleasure it was to see him there. Dirty player, nice guy? Grrr, he did play for Racing, but maybe someday TDH will forgive him for all his footballing sins....
Yesterday, while enjoying a stroll down the street in Buenos Aires, TDH was hailed from behind. It turned out to be an old friend from university, someone TDH hadn't seen for years, who's now a television producer in Los Angeles. She invited TDH out to the flashy Faena hotel for drinks tonight.
TDH, as it happened, had never been there before, partly because it was all the way across town, partly because TDH has had fully enough of Philippe Starck. (Haven't we all?) But two friends of TDH happened to come by this evening, and by chance they offered a ride and dinner at a restaurant right across from the Faena. So off TDH went.
And there, as TDH was sitting by the pool wearing La Seleccion's long-sleeved jersey from Argentina 1978, in walked a man with a sharp suit and a flat-top haircut. He even smirked as he saw the shirt. It was, of course, the coach of the current Argentine champions and the player who got the $250 Million Man (sound effects, please) sent off in the World Cup: Diego "Cholo" Simeone.
El Cholo sat down with two buddies at the next table, a table meant for six or eight. Within seconds, three bog-standard porteña women (read: leggy, long-haired goddesses) walked over and asked if they could take the rest of the seats. Where did they come from? This was no mingling bar. Later, a taxi driver explained to TDH, "Oh, you just call a number, and they come...." Well, duh.
TDH waited until the check came, then took the pen and asked El Cholo to sign a paper coaster. He did, with his surname, nickname and a big smile when TDH said, through clenched teeth, what a pleasure it was to see him there. Dirty player, nice guy? Grrr, he did play for Racing, but maybe someday TDH will forgive him for all his footballing sins....
posted by Daniel Altman at 4:49 AM
3 Comments:
I always have liked Simeone. He's one of those abrasive win-at-all-costs characters I've always had a respect for, the way they make their teams so much more than they should be.
He was also loyal. I remember how he refused to celebrate the goals that denied Inter the Scudetto. That sums him up - cold blooded enough to score them, but loyal enough not to celebrate.
By the way, in London next week - in case your globetrotting takes you there.
Urgh. Your stereotypical dirty, cheating Argie. I'm perplexed Mara, why you admire win-at-all-cost characters. They're a blight on the game. i have a horrible feeling that you're a Materazzi-apologist as well.
Sorry, won't see you in London this time. Give my regards to the crew. Simeone is hugely popular here, universally acknowledged as a good guy. But if you didn't grow up with the ethic that says, "Rolling around on the floor like an injured mackerel to get a player carded, thus losing all semblance of machismo, is the biggest possible sacrifice you can make for the team," then you wouldn't necessarily conform to that point of view.....
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