Maradona’s Future in Doubt
With a loss to Germany last weekend, doubts are accumulating as to whether Argentine coach Maradona will be staying on with the club, or bowing out. After the match he said he’d been drained of all his energy, and likened the defeat to “being floored” by Muhammad Ali.
Clearly exhausted, he added: “I may leave tomorrow, but I'd like that these boys continue showing who they are and keep playing real Argentina football.”
When asked to clarity his future plans, he acknowledged that he would “have to think carefully about it […] and talk with my family, and the players. There are many issues here.”
The Argentine coach, who is generally considered Argentina’s all-time greatest player, was criticized back home for leading the team by instinct rather than specialized tactics. When Argentina qualified for the World Cup last minute he responded with outbursts of profanities.
With three group stage victories, and a compelling 3-1 win over Mexico in the round of 16, even Maradona’s strongest detractors began to question if they had underestimated his coaching abilities.
With a general air of eccentricity, Maradona’s affectionate hugs and team praise seemed early on to be a blueprint for success for other coaches who portrayed a role of seriousness, such as Fabio Capello. In this way the Argentine team didn’t arrange itself hierarchically, but rather as a group of equals and a family.
A blueprint for success, that is, until Germany came along.
Argentina was unclear how to respond to Thomas Mueller’s early goal in the match, producing a deficit that only became harder to pay off as time wore on. Maradona made no changes to his squad at half-time, even though his team struggled in the first, losing possession often as soon as it met German territory. After Germany scored their second goal, he sent midfielder Javier Pastore, and looked to further boost attack with striker Sergio Aguero when Arne Friedrich made it 3-0.
With the match drawing to a close, Maradona hugged his son-in-law, Aguero, and held him fast as the German team celebrated. He then looked on to Messi, his apprentice-star, and the two exchanged a heartfelt but confused look.
“This is the most difficult experience of my life, because to (lose) in front of so many good players, such good people, such good professionals is like getting punched by Muhammad Ali,” he said. “I don't have any energy left.”
He added that he’d only known similar emotions the day he retired from the sport itself.
For the most, Maradona refused to accept blame for the defeat, and lashed out at a reporter who suggested certain critics might be content with the loss.
“Are you joking,” he said. “This is a country where you live and breathe football. I don't think that anyone will be happy when the team loses 4-0.”
Diego Armando Maradona was born on 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires, is an Argentine former football player and the current manager of the Argentine national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career he played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting world-record contract fees. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 World Cup where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's quarter-final round he scored two goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history, though for two very different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal was a spectacular 60-metre weave through six England players, commonly referred to as "The Goal of the Century".
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