Maradona wears Brazil's jersey
2006-04-28 11:07
Sao Paulo - Diego Maradona is side-by-side with Ronaldo and Kaka, singing the Brazilian national anthem and wearing Brazil's bright yellow soccer jersey.
Only in his nightmares - and in a television commercial to promote a Brazilian soft drink.
Maradona reportedly received $150 000 (about R920 000) from a Brazilian advertising company to appear in the commercial.
The commercial has been broadcast throughout Brazil.
The ad begins with the Argentinian Maradona lined up side-by-side with Brazilian soccer stars Ronaldo and Kaka, singing the Brazilian national anthem.
Then Maradona suddenly wakes up, in his bed and wearing the blue-and-white of Argentina.
"What a nightmare," he says.
With a daunting expression, he looks at several empty cans of the Brazilian soft drink on his bedside table, and says he must be drinking too much of it.
The company that produces the soft drink is one of the official sponsors of the Brazilian national team, which will seek its sixth world title in the 2006 World Cup in Germany in June.
Brazil and Argentina, a two-time world champion, have one of the greatest rivalries in soccer.
- AP