Roberto Guerrero Ayala, 90, still not sated after 15 World Cups | OneFootball

At 90, Mexican commentator Roberto Guerrero Ayala has stopped at 15 World Cups yet still shares his passion from home in Guadalajara. L'Équipe reports that he now presents a thrice-weekly radio show, having moved to a single-storey villa after a fall.

With rights having doubled since Qatar, his station cannot pay for access, so he now calls games from Guadalajara’s fan zone rather than the press box.

His tally is 15, with only Enrique Macaya Marquez on 18 and Hartmut Scherzer on 17 ahead.

He won a 1966 Telesistema Mexicano contest to cover seven matches in England, the first World Cup broadcast live by satellite in Mexico, finishing top of 119 candidates.

He treasures encounters with Franz Beckenbauer and Pelé, and even co-commentated with the Brazilian in Seville in 1982.

Two matches stand tallest in his memory, West Germany 3-2 England after extra time in Leon, and France 1-1 Brazil, 4-3 on penalties, in Guadalajara. He says he is the last of his Mexican peers to have experienced all three home tournaments. He also recalls harsher scenes, from Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston to Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in the final, and he maintains Maradona’s Hand of God was obvious to all but the referee. He believes everything in Qatar was set up for Lionel Messi to become champion.

Source: L'Équipe