Diego Maradona Watch: Nervoushhh, Germany?

We now stand poised on the edge of a world where Diego Maradona, previously regarded as a lucky imbecile who stumbled into a coaching job he did not deserve, may in fact lead Argentina further into the World Cup knockout stages than any coach in recent memory. Adjust your worldview, and sigan chupando, haters.

Yet just as you were about to advance him the credit of competence, remember this:

That is Maradona leaving the stage during a press conference from a friendly earlier this year because he believes a ball boy is sitting on the podium, and therefore holding a place for someone else.

The ball boy is Thomas Mueller of Germany, who has thus far scored three goals this World Cup. Either Maradona was being oblivious on purpose, or he did not recognize one of Germany's principal offensive threats when he saw him in person. We're betting the latter, and not the former, is the case here, because we're Team Stupid when it comes to Maradona, not Team "Oh-He's-Brilliant-And-Misunderstood." 

He recently mocked Schweinsteiger's accent in response to the German player's comments about dirty tactics by the Argentines, asking "Are you nervousssh?" in Spanish. Video's here, but you'll find that three years of Spanish in high school aren't enough to properly translate accent mockery without assistance. It does make our burrito orders sound really, really authentic, which the suburban kid who was born in America who speaks perfect English really appreciates when we order at Chipotle. 

What needs no translation here is this: Maradona's half-idiot, half-genius PR act has Argentina/Germany looking like one of the nastier games of the World Cup. Have your cards at the ready, referees.