Nothing lost in translation

Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006 | 6:59 a.m.

16 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)

15 - AC Milan (Italy), Independiente (Argentina), Real Madrid (Spain)

World Cup championships

5 - Brazil

4 - Italy

3 - Germany

2 -Argentina, Uruguay

Esteban Batori is thankful. Thankful that his father escaped from communist Hungary in 1956 and thankful he bolted from Argentina and brought his family to the United States in 1976.

Thankful for Argentina's two World Cup titles, which, Batori says, "I will take to my grave."

But he's thankful for small things, too. He still can't quite believe what he discovered during a visit to his regular bookstore: a copy of the London-based World Soccer magazine paying tribute to Argentina's current "Wonderkids" with the next wave of superstars - Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez - on the cover.

"It's the first time this magazine took a positive view of Argentina," said Batori, 46, who has been a translator for Las Vegas courts for two years.

He also was elated that the November 2006 issue of World Soccer highlighted Hungary.

Over flattened steak and flan at his favorite restaurant, Rincon de Argentina, Batori lamented about Argentina's lack of respect on the world stage, especially in England, and he spoke glowingly about Hungary's stellar squads of the 1950s.

From a thick folder of treasured soccer mementos, Batori pulled out an autographed picture of Hungarian whizz Ferenc Puskas. His father obtained the photo when he met the "Galloping Major" in a Buenos Aires restaurant in the 1950s.

Batori said he thinks often of his father, who died during heart surgery in 1982. "He was a big soccer fan. A great goalkeeper, too," the son said, adding a brief explanation of why his father fled Hungary. "Once, he was taken to Russia, where he was questioned and tortured."

When the military clamped down in Argentina in the 1970s, Alexander Batori again sought a brighter future for his family. "He didn't want to leave," Esteban Batori said, "but he didn't want us to go through what he went through."

The Batoris settled in Youngstown, Ohio. Alexander worked as a printer at a publishing company and Esteban attended Youngstown State, where he played soccer and even scored a hat trick against Ohio State. The Penguins no longer field a men's soccer team.

Esteban Batori spent 13 years in the Cleveland field office of the FBI. His ability to speak Spanish and Hungarian allowed him to monitor wiretaps, interpret documents and interview court subjects.

His duties with the FBI constantly changed. He was involved in drug cases involving Colombian and Mexican drug lords such as Amado Carrillo Fuentes. "We were going after the big wheels, the whales in the ocean ... no minnows," he said. "But some things I cannot talk about. Heavy-duty stuff. I wish I could write a book and bring it to light."

Batori admitted that a certain thrill or excitement came with the job.

"But nothing compares to meeting face to face with Pele or Franz Beckenbauer, or any of the big soccer stars," he said. "That's what I really love."

He met Pele in 1981 in a hallway at the Berlitz Language Centers in New York, where both men where studying English. They became friends, and Batori wound up working soccer camps for New York Cosmos players for three years.

That's where he met German star Beckenbauer, who gave Batori a firsthand account of one of soccer's classic controversies: Geoff Hurst's extra-time goal in the 1966 World Cup title match.

The rocket shot hit the cross bar, bounced down and the Russian linesman pointed to the center spot, signaling goal. England added another one for a 4-2 victory over Beckenbauer and West Germany.

"(Beckenbauer) told me that third goal never crossed the line, but that he was too far away," Batori said. "Then he said (English star) Bobby Charlton told him it never crossed. Imagine that."

Batori said Pele most often spoke about the thrill of scoring the 1,000th goal of his career, on a penalty kick against Vasco de Gama goalkeeper Edgardo Andrada at the famed Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 19, 1969.

"He almost saved it, but it (the kick) was too strong," Batori said of the Argentine goalie's attempt. "Pele was nervous. He was afraid he'd miss it, with all the press there."

Of course, Batori remembers exactly where he was for Argentina's two World Cup victories.

He was freezing in the stands at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires on June 25, 1978, when Argentina beat Holland, 3-1.

"It was a very cold day, but it was history," he said. "How lucky we were. It was a very tough game, very physical."

Batori recalls celebrating on the Avenida 9 de Julio, the 425-foot-wide main street marked by a 200-foot tall obelisk, like the Washington Monument.

"With 3 million other people in the streets, (we were) dancing and singing and chanting," Batori said. "We had drums and trumpets. Flags were waving and car horns were blowing till 5 a.m. I'll never forget it."

Batori also remembers eating pizza and drinking Quilmes beer in an Argentine restaurant in Staten Island, N.Y., on June 29, 1986. He and 500 other fans watched their beloved "Albicelestes" defeat West Germany, 3-2.

"We were hoping Argentina would win 2-0, but then West Germany came back to tie it with eight minutes left," Batori said. "I started getting worried. Was Argentina out of steam or what?"

Two minutes later, Diego Maradona fed Jorge Burruchaga for the goal that gave Argentina its second World Cup trophy.

"That was a good night of celebrating in the streets outside the restaurant," Batori said. "I've been here 30 years. To be fair, I love both countries. At the same time, my homeland never would have given me what my adopted homeland has given me."