Italian tennis player Potito Starace has lambasted former idol Diego Maradona for insulting him from the stand during his quarter-final loss to Argentina’s David Nalbandian in the Buenos Aires Open.

“Maradona insulted me as soon as the match began,” said Starace, a fan of Maradona’s former team Napoli.

“Diego made me lose my head, I went to the umpire and I said to him: ‘Either you throw him out or I’ll go bash a racket in his teeth’.”

Now why didn’t England keeper Peter Shilton think of that between the ‘Hand of God’ and one the greatest goals ever scored in the Mexico ‘86 quarter-final?

At least Diego’s still passionate about his country…

You may remember a post I did on Lionel Messi’s habit of emulating goals from the footballing greats.

Last season the lank-haired Barcelona forward added his own versions of Maradona’s World Cup double against England in 1986 and Zidane’s Champions League winning volley to his collection.

Well, he’s done it again according to Spanish sports daily Marca. His decisive strike in his side’s 3-2 win over Celtic on Wednesday was, they say, a copy of one of Ferenc Pukas’s classic efforts in Hungary’s legendary 6-3 demolition of Wembley in 1953.

I’ve looked at both and there is little doubt that Puskas’s the better goal. The build-up is fantastic - even if the players look as though they are moving in slow motion - and anyone who can produce that sort of close control with a ball that had all the characteristics of a sack of potatoes deserves huge credit.

It’s true the Messi drag-back that beats Celtic defender Lee Naylor is reminiscent of the Hungarian’s footwork when he floors Billy Wright. But instead of wallowing in nostalgia I’m just going to sit back and look forward to Messi’s next goal. Maybe he’ll start taking requests.

PHOTO: Messi celebrates his second goal at Celtic Park, February 20, 2008. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

The last 16 of the UEFA Cup doesn’t look half bad.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who boast two of Europe’s form players in Luca Toni and Franck Ribery, qualified after thrashing Aberdeen 7-3 on aggregate and now meet Belgium’s perennial champions Anderlecht 

Werder Bremen, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen - the rest of the top four in Germany - are also through with Leverkusen playing Hamburg in one of the standout ties during March.

Fiorentina, above European champions AC Milan in Serie A, will face Everton, fourth in the Premier League and above Liverpool.

Former European Cup winners Benfica and Marseille are also there while Tottenham Hotspur boss Juande Ramos is aiming for an unprecedented third straight UEFA Cup title after winning twice with Sevilla. (He did rest a few players for Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague with one eye on Sunday’s League Cup final with Chelsea — another rejuvenated competition?)

Throw in Rangers, Bolton Wanderers, Zenit St Petersburg, Getafe, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting and suddenly the UEFA Cup looks more appealing than it has done in years.

When the European Cup was just for the champions as opposed to the current Champions League (huh?), the UEFA Cup had street cred and used to be more difficult to win given there were two or three good teams from each of the big leagues.

Then the top clubs were all absorbed into the Champions League and the UEFA Cup began to suffer, especially when cup winners got thrown in too.

This season, though, the secondary competition seems to be fighting back. Do you agree or do you still think the UEFA Cup is a nuisance? Let us know in the comments.

Mark Meadows, Milan

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s Altintop tackles Aberdeen’s Forster during their UEFA Cup match in Munich Feb.21  REUTERS/Alexandra Beier

My colleague Mitch Phillips wrote this on our blog towards the end of last year:

It was only a few weeks ago that the great and the good of football were talking about the lessons to be learned from the rugby World Cup, where players under just as much pressure but suffering infinitely more physical punishment, retained a respect for officials that utterly shames football by comparison.

Mitch was writing in response to a group of Chelsea players, led by team captain John Terry, who surrounded the referee in the latest example of multi-millionaire players ganging up on an official because of a decision they didn’t like.

The idea that it’s OK to approach the referee in such a way seems to be deeply ingrained in the Premier League and by all accounts, the behaviour is copied by players all the way down to schools football.

It’s refreshing, then, to see a scheme being run by the FA at the amateur level to try to get things moving in the right direction. Play the video above to see a report on a trial that will see the team captains designated as the only players able to talk directly with the referee.

It’s an appealing idea and one the game needs if, in the long term, we’re going to keep referees in soccer. As David Elleray says in the report:

We’re very good at getting people into refereeing but not so good at keeping people as referees and a part of that is the way they’re treated. In the broadest sense it’s the abuse and the unpleasantness they encounter and a lot of them turn around and say, ‘Why do I put up with this?’

So is this something that should be taken up in the Premier League and elsewhere in the professional game? Watch the report from Jim Drury and let us know via the comments.

A blog I read recently attributed much of the success enjoyed by Manchester City this season to their big defender Richard Dunne.

The Ireland international’s performance in this month’s 2-1 derby victory at Manchester Utd was the latest in a string of top displays this season and City manager Sven Goran Eriksson was quick to praise him. 

Such tributes will not surprise most City fans; the former Everton player has won the club’s player of the year award for the past three years, despite the emergence of England defender Micah Richards. However, most other fans know little about his excellent form.

In fact he is best known for a difficult start to his career when he had problems with his weight, was suspended for turning up to training slightly worse for wear and sometimes made basic defensive errors.

His transformation into a slimmer self, along with consistent form and a role in nurturing youngsters such as Richards just isn’t big news in comparison, apparently.

So which other good Premier League players slip under the media radar? For me, Bolton’s industrious captain Kevin Nolan is worth a mention, as is Everton’s battling midfielder Lee Carsley. These aren’t players that necessarily add to the Premier League’s glamour. It’s much simpler than that; they just keep their heads down and play well week-in, week-out.     

Who else would you suggest is under-rated?

Neil Maidment, London

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Roy Keane is challenged by Manchester City’s Richard Dunne during their Premier League match at Old Trafford, November 7 2004. REUTERS/Simon Bellis

Some great strikes, late goals and top defending - the Champions League returned to leave us gasping for more.  

Luckily this time we only have to wait two weeks rather than two months for the action to restart, although the second leg between Inter Milan and Liverpool (0-2) takes place a week later than AC Milan v Arsenal (0-0) to save the San Siro pitch from two successive days of punishment.   

(In reality the sensible Milan authorities don’t want hordes of Arsenal and Liverpool fans descending on city in the same week).

Liverpool and Milan must be the favourites in the two ties, prompted fears from the rest of football that the two teams will dare to contest the European Cup final for the third time in four years. Not again surely? (Although Serie A talk thinks Milan have a chance if keeper Zeljko Kalac can so play so well after a dislocated finger.)

Barcelona were the victors in 2006 and Lionel Messi’s stunning performance in the 3-2 win at Celtic, as well as an Arsenal-eque goal from Thierry Henry, suggests reports of their demise have been exaggerated. Even Ronaldinho played well.

Chelsea and Real Madrid could be in trouble according some bloggers while the Real Liga feels Arjen Robben’s return to form in the 2-1 defeat by AS Roma bodes well. 

Karim Benzema’s superb goal in Lyon’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United left absolutely everyone purring though.

Can it get any better than this?

Mark Meadows, Milan and Kevin Fylan, Berlin

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates his second goal against Celtic during their Champions League first knockout round, first leg match in Glasgow, Feb. 20. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

AS Roma beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg despite some of their key players not talking to each other.

Francesco Totti played in Mancini for the second-half winner yet the pair haven’t seen eye-to-eye for two years because of a personal feud. Their embrace after the goal suggested otherwise, but in reality they are sworn enemies.

The Eternal city seems to prevent everlasting friendships, even if the ill-feeling doesn’t stop Roma, second in Serie A, from gaining results.  

Christian Panucci came to blows with team mate Alberto Aquilani in training on Sunday but both played their part in Tuesday’s famous win, which gives Roma a decent chance of making the quarter-finals for the second year in a row.

Of course, Roma won’t want to be reminded that last season they were 2-1 up against Manchester United in the last eight only to be hammered 7-1 in the return leg at Old Trafford.

On the other hand, maybe Roma boss Luciano Spalletti should convene a meeting to discuss the 7-1 defeat and allow his players to let rip at each other. It seems to make them play better. 

I remember Liverpool’s Bruce Grobbelaar and Steve McManaman once scrapping in the penalty area as well as Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer fighting at Newcastle. Santiago Canizares and Miroslav Djukic at Valencia were not on speaking terms either.

Let us know of any other warring team mates and whether it helped.

Mark Meadows, Milan

PHOTO: AS Roma’s Mancini celebrates after scoring against Real Madrid during their Champions League first knockout round first leg, Feb. 19 REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

Toronto-born, of Jamaican and Filipino descent, Jonathan de Guzmán is a veritable citizen of the world, and even more so after this month receiving his Dutch passport.

The Feyenoord midfielder is a prodigious talent who should be picked for the Dutch under-21 side in the next month and may even make it the Olympic Games in Beijing later this year.

For several years now, his native Canada have been trying to get him to commit to their cause, where Jonathan’s elder brother Julian is already a regular. But the younger De Guzman was steadfast in his desire to obtain the nationality of the Netherlands and possibly someday play alongside the likes of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie.

His case mirrored the unsuccessful bid of Salomon Kalou, when he was at Feyenoord. Kalou went through a lengthy legal process in a bid to win a Dutch passport and had the support of national coach Marco van Basten, who wanted him for Oranje’s 2006 World Cup squad.

In so doing, Kalou ignored the appeals of his own brother, Bonaventure Kalou, then captain of the Ivory Coast side. The younger Kalou was eventually denied Dutch nationality, by which time it was too late to play for the Ivorians at the World Cup in Germany. But less than a year later, once he had moved to Chelsea, any thoughts of going Dutch had long evaporated and Kalou is now a highly valued member of the Ivorian team, ironically taking the place of his brother in the recent African Nations Cup finals squad.

But that is an aside. Back to the De Guzmans. When Jonathan does put on a Dutch shirt, he and his brother will join a rare list of siblings capped by different countries.

I know of a few others and want to find out if you might help produce a definitive list.

Currently Manfred Kizito plays for Rwanda and his brother Nestory for Uganda, where they both hail from. Manfred was offered a passport by Rwanda after he went to play club soccer there.

In 1996, Lito, full name José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal, played for Angola at the Nations Cup finals in South Africa. He was Angolan-born but had been brought up in Portugal, and played at the top level there with Belenenses.

He was one of five brothers, one of whom was a lot better and quickly snapped up by the Portuguese. Jose Luis Vidigal was also born in Angola but moved to Portugal after independence at the age of two. He was a member of the Portugal side that reached the semifinals at the Euro 2000 and now plays at Livorno in Italy’s Serie A.

Earlier in February, the Olympique Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda played for France A in a goalless draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Marbella. Although not a full international, it was remarkable encounter in the sense that Mandanda’s younger brother Parfait kept a clean sheet at the other end.

Both brothers were born in Kinshasa but brought up in France. Steve, now 22, has come through most of France’s junior age group level teams while 18-year-old Parfait is on the books at Girondins Bordeaux.

I know that Djibril Cisse’s father was an international for the Ivory Coast but that opens up another list.

So how many siblings capped for rival international countries do you know. Or are there other father-and-son combinations who played for different countries at international level? If you know of any, please let us know via the comments below.

Mark Gleeson covers African football for Reuters

PHOTO: Feyenoord’s Jonathan de Guzman celebrates a goal against Wisla Krakow in the UEFA Cup in Rotterdam, December 13, 2006. REUTERS/Michael Kooren.

There must have a universal roar when Uganda’s Revenue Authority suffered a 2-0 home defeat in the African Champions League at the weekend.

The ‘tax collectors’, as they are known, surely engender little affection. They were beaten 2-0 by ZESCO United of Zambia in Kampala in a first round, first leg tie.

I have a few colleagues who support Tottenham Hotspur but I am left to wonder what kind of footballing masochists would want to support a team run by the revenue service. That also raises the question, is there no better way to spend the taxpayer’s money in Uganda than bank-rolling a football team?

Yet, according to the Ugandan media, they do have fans. In fact, so incensed were some of them that police had to step in protect their coach Frank ‘Video’ Anyau after the lost to their Zambian opponents.

Beating up the coach to express your frustration at your team’s defeat is common practice in Africa. It is a terrible blight on the game, notably in Nigeria where oftentimes both premier league players and coaches are laid into by supporters.

Mark Gleeson covers African football for Reuters

For sheer arrogance, the Premier League’s idea to play one round of matches overseas takes some beating.

Not only has it upset almost every single fan in England, it has also annoyed senior soccer officials in Asia, Australia and Europe — as well as furiously angering FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

But I’m surprised the money-mad marketing men have stopped at the Premier League and I think some sharp-suited whiz kid has missed a trick.

I can’t believe that some agents, or agency, fuelled by the idea of increased revenue streams, hasn’t come up with a plan for England to play an exhibition tournament in Austria and Switzerland or elsewhere during Euro 2008 to prove, actually, that England are the best team in Europe, or the world, perhaps even the universe, and not whoever happens to win Euro 2008.

England could play, for example, against other European teams who failed to qualify like Denmark, Ireland, Scotland or Finland. Or they could maybe take on Australia, or the United States or Japan and Brazil in a more global competition.

TV companies, as we are always being told, can’t get enough of English football, so are likely to show all the England matches rather than official Euro 2008 games. Even more money will role in. The revenue streams will not run dry!

If England win, the money men can point to another innovative idea, brilliantly conceived, to show all the talent at England’s disposal. If England lose, well, at least the whole world has been lucky enough to get their fix of English soccer.

Not the Premier League perhaps, but the next best thing.

Someone, somewhere, out there will consider this a serious idea so don’t be surprised if you read about it happening in the next few weeks. I’m just surprised it isn’t happening already.