After leading his country to their worst defeat in six decades — a 6-1 World Cup qualifier pasting in Bolivia — Argentina coach Diego Maradona has his back to the wall.
Having only taken over last year, as a surprise successor to Alfio Basile, the 1986 World Cup winner started off with friendly wins in Scotland and France and then last week the two-time world champions hammered Venezuela 4-0 in his first competitive match in charge.
But Wednesday’s humiliation in La Paz — to his credit Maradona did not blame the high altitude — ramped up the temperature of the hot seat, even if qualification for next year’s finals in South Africa should still present a formality with the team still only two points behind second-place Brazil.
Four sides go through to the finals automatically and there seems little chance of Argentina missing out, but Maradona candidly admitted his men’s shortcomings.
“We just have to start again and hope that nothing like this ever happens again,” said Maradona, who praised Bolivia as the better side.
“The altitude was not an issue. We came up against a team that gave very little away and basically they were the better team,” he said. “Whoever played against that Bolivian team would have suffered the same fate as us. I suffered with them [the players]. Every Bolivian goal was a dagger in my heart.”
The thin air of the Bolivian capital had already done for group leaders Paraguay but the manner of the Argentines’ humbling 3,650m above sea level was more than enough to bring the Albiceleste down to Earth with a bump.
The likes of Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez cut disconsolate figures after the loss at the Hernando Siles stadium, which rocked with joyous home fans as a tide of Bolivian green ran the visitors ragged.
The scale of the beating will up the pressure on a coach who has yet to prove himself in the job despite Maradona’s lingering cult status from his playing days.
Anything less than a win against Colombia in the next qualifier on June 6 in Buenos Aires would be a further blow to his credibility. After that, the Argentines have to make another difficult trip to Quito to play Ecuador.
Playing at only 750m lower than La Paz the Ecuadoreans have held Brazil and Paraguay, the top two sides in the group, over the past week to prove they are no pushovers on their own patch.
Maradona has, however, bounced back from crisis before and received tacit backing from Messi on Thursday when the Barcelona starlet insisted: “It’s impossible to play in La Paz.”
Messi accepted Maradona had sought to play down the altitude issue but told reporters in Buenos Aires that “while I don’t want to contradict Diego, it is impossible to play in La Paz. That’s my opinion after playing there and some of my teammates think the same.”
Teammate Javier Zanetti joined Maradona in praising Bolivia’s performance but said the high altitude was a problem.
“Some of us had a terrible headache — though we don’t want to use that as an excuse,” the midfielder told reporters.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care