The greatest football commentary of all time is not in the English language. It is in Spanish, it covered one of the greatest goals ever, it brings goosebumps 34 years on.
Uruguayan but adopted by Argentina, Victor Hugo Morales was covering the match for national radio but these days, his words always come with the images. Every Argentine knows what “Genio…genio…genio…ta ta ta” signifies, and even the typically Uruguayan “ta” is part of the folklore. Youtube here.
PS: Out of interest, it’s well-worn cloth but for anyone who’s interested in knowing why this goal is lauded so highly by world football, take time to check what Diego Armando Maradona and may his soul rest in peace did between 0:33 and 0:36. It wasn’t just the fact he beat the first defender you see in this part of the segment, but the angle shows how after getting the ball round the defender, Maradona cuts his own body inside to the left and only manages that by raising his leg over the defender while running at top speed. And he did all that deliberately, he knows how to make danger into big danger, by keeping as straight on goal as possible 1) he avoids a defender he knows is looming to his right and 2) he’s now straighter on goal, which allows the option to feint the goalkeeper. He dummies to perfection and, once Shilton commits, d10s drags the ball back right into space that wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for his original line on goal. The defender is still there but an extra half a yard away, Maradona opens his body to use the left foot (the final OMG moment of a dozen) and Victor Hugo Morales bursts into tears.