Diego Maradona told Juan Roman Riquelme and River Plate coach Nestor Gorosito to keep their mouths shut on Friday in a growing spat between the Argentina coach and former captain.
Riquelme said he would never play for Argentina while Maradona was the coach because he didn’t agree with Maradona’s “principles,” after Maradona rained criticism on his performances with Boca.
Gorosito — coach of Boca’s arch rivals River — defended Riquelme’s resignation on Thursday, saying the midfielder has “many principles and he believes they have not been respected.”
PHOTO: AFP
“Principles” in Argentine soccer speak is synonymous with frankness and fidelity. Riquelme, a former player for Barcelona and Villarreal, has been a constant on the national team since his debut in 1997. He has said he would have preferred Maradona to call him on the phone to minimize the spat, rather than blurt out a slur of public criticisms.
Maradona said he called Riquelme several times, but received no response.
“Whoever the coach is, whatever the principles are, the national team jersey shouldn’t be abandoned,” Maradona said. “I don’t have any problem with him resigning. But he shouldn’t tarnish my name and sully the stadium. I didn’t break any codes. My message was: ‘Play 20m closer than what you’re playing in Boca.’ He speaks about codes and principles, but I have more years of experience, more team experience and more wit and cunning than Riquelme.”
Maradona acknowledged that Riquelme had problems with several current and former Boca players.
“I wanted to put together a team with Riquelme knowing about the problems in Boca he had with [Julio] Caceres, [Martin] Palermo, [Mauricio] Caranta, [Pablo] Migliore, [Jesus] Datolo,” Maradona said. “Of course, I knew about all the problems he had hanging over him, and still, I wanted to have him on the team.”
While Argentina’s main newspapers reported on Thursday that at least 10 international players supported Maradona over Riquelme, Maradona denied he had received any calls.
The alleged calls sparked the ire of Gorosito.
“Since the resignation, it annoys me that there are players who call a coach to congratulate him because a player has resigned,” Gorosito said on Thursday. “They are snitches.”
Maradona cautioned Gorosito not to get further involved.
“Don’t wade into deep waters, because I know you well,” he said. “And I’m tough when it comes to getting the damage done.”
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