Blessed By La Mano De Dios

Diego Maradona is 47 today.

An interesting footballing character. Some would say the best footballer of all time.

So much so that in 2002 some of his fans created a church in his name. For these 'disciples', whilst Jesus is the "God of Reason" Maradona is the "God of the Heart".

They count time from when he was born - 30th October 1960. Which makes this AD47 (presumably Anno Diego).

To celebrate today's occasion, two couples underwent symbolic marriages in the presence of a football. The "priest" blessed the unions with the words, "Let no man separate what the God of football has united'.

The man, or should one say deity, himself married in 1989 in a flashy affair, which was somewhat blighted by a more earthy response to one photographer in the form of a punch on the nose.

His "god-like" qualities to his fans are in his renowned footballing skills. For others this reputation has more to do with his "hand of god" goal scored in the quarter final of the 1986 World Cup. The "allegation" is that the goal was scored by a "handball" foul. Maradona himself originally denied that his hand touched the ball, explaining that it was the "hand of god" that put the ball in the net. He has since accepted that it was his hand that scored the goal, but justified it as a response to the Falklands conflict. He said "Whoever robs a thief gets a 100-year pardon."

I guess it's all a question of belief.