FIFA World Cup 2010: Diego Maradona is the Man of the Moment
Diego Armanda Maradona was once the greatest player of his generation. He steered Napoli to Italian and European Championship glory but his greatest achievement was helping Argentina win the World Cup in 1986. He single-handedly steered Argentina to football’s biggest prize with the ‘hand of God’ goal. He was hit by few scandals and controversies in his post-retirement time. But he made his comeback in style when he was appointed as Argentina’s coach for South Africa 2010 campaign amid criticism from local media and former players.
Additionally, Argentina’s bizarre World Cup campaign combined with Maradona’s eccentric behaviour made headlines and added more pressure on the Argentinean squad. And this can be substantiated from the fact that despite having players like World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, Manchester City’s Tevez and Real Madrid’s Higuain, they were not tipped by pundits as favourites to lift the World Cup trophy.
But Maradona has answered all his critics by steering Argentina to three consecutive group matches wins. And he did that with style. Argentina played one of most beautiful and stylish football of the tournament, full of flair along with the famous South American skill.
Their latest win came in their last Group match. Argentina played brilliantly in Polokwane to record a convincing win over former European Champions Greece. Argentina recorded their third win of the World Cup when they defeated Greece with a score of 2-0 in a Group B encounter. With the win, Argentina top’s the group and will face Mexico in the next round. Messi was the man of the moment for Argentina once again as he won the man-of-the-match award.
Argentina showed a performance which is associated with potential World Champions; Messi’s performance being the highlight of the match. With a third consecutive impressive performance, Maradona’s Argentina has answered their critics in a fashionable way. Despite the fact that Messi was the driving force in the midfield, it was a team effort that culminated in three comprehensive wins. Martin Palermo and Martin Demichelis scored for South America. In addition to Milito, World player of the Year Lionel Messi and Maradona’s son-in-law Sergio Aguero were inspirational and their link up play was a treat to watch.
For Maradona, it is also a personal victory as he was under heavy criticism for his use of unorthodox tactics. But with three victories in a row, his reputation as a coach has also grown considerably. Talking to media after the match, he said, “Greece was never capable of controlling us. I have 23 top players and they are all ready to put on the jersey and work on the pitch and that makes you happy and then you have peace of mind”.
Argentina is hoping to win their third World Cup which will be their first in 24 years. They previously touched glory in 1978 and 1986 in which Maradona played. This time round, he wants to inspire them to World Cup victory as a coach. Good news for Argentina has come in the shape of Nicolas Burdisso, who came in as replacement for injured Walter Samuel. It was not only entertaining to see Argentina play on the field but it was also fun to see Maradona’s theatrical antics on side line.
Talking to reporters after the match, the Greek coach admitted that his team was playing against the best team in the world, Otto Rehhagel said, “What can you do against the best team here. They deserved to win”.
Maradona came under heavy criticism from fellow footballers Pele and Platini regarding his unorthodox tactics. In typical style, Maradona launched a scathing attack on both of them. But one thing is for certain that after Argentina’s performance, Maradona will not be getting any further criticism from Pele or Platini.
Argentina will play Mexico in the round of 16. And with Maradona supporting his team from the sidelines and enjoying every moment as a coach, it is obvious that Argentinean players play with full flare and zeal. And Maradona on sidelines is indeed one of the distinguishing features of this years’ World Cup.
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