HUNGARY: It may not have sparked another soccer war, but Hungary's recent game against Saudi Arabia did nothing to foster harmony between allies in the "coalition on terror".
Last Saturday's friendly international stumbled to a 0-0 draw, with none of the ferocity of the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras match that touched off tension between the neighbours, prompting a 100-hour war that killed and injured thousands of people.
But the Hungarian prime minister's post-match analysis tweaked a delicate diplomatic nerve.
"I think there were very many terrorists among the Saudi soccer players," Mr Ferenc Gyurcsany told companions at a weekend party to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his Socialist Party.
"Our sons fought with death-defying bravery against these terrorists, so a draw away from home is a fantastic result."
Arab ambassadors here were not amused.
"The prime minister's comment has disturbed us very much, since he accused the entire Arab nation of terrorism," fumed Libya's envoy, Mr Muhammad Burki.
It was not the first time that Mr Gyurcsany (43), a millionaire former businessman, has wandered "off-message".
He made waves this week by telling his outspoken conservative rival, Mr Viktor Orban, to "shut up", and recounted to a radio talk show how he had given a teenage runaway from the countryside a bed for the night in his family home.
Mr Gyurcsany has won supporters with an off-the-cuff style that contrasts with that of previous Socialist leaders. But he did have to say sorry for his footballing own goal.
"I apologise to all those who were offended by this sentence," he said.