Chapter 3: Impostors

Chapter 3 is about impostors and legends. In November 1996 Southampton manager Graeme Souness took a call from someone claiming to be George Weah, the reigning World Player of the Year, who recommended his cousin, Ali Dia. None of it was true, but Dia was signed, came on after 32 minutes against Leeds United, was substituted 53 minutes later and was released two weeks into his contract. Carlos Kaiser signed for clubs in Brazil and abroad over two decades without ever playing a competitive match; by his own account he faked injuries and used a toy mobile phone for fake calls, and much of his story rests on his own word. São Paulo’s goalkeeper Rogério Ceni scored about 130 goals in his career, sources count 129 or 131, mostly from free kicks and penalties: a world record for a goalkeeper. And at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City, Diego Maradona scored the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century against England four minutes apart. You open the message Souness received and guess Ceni’s total.