Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona capped a remarkable comeback from a near fatal heart attack four years ago to be named coach of the national side on Tuesday.
Maradona, who turns 48 today and who has no top-level coaching experience, said he hoped to repeat the success of the 1986 World Cup when as a player he inspired the team to take the title almost single-handedly.
He will be assisted by the coach of the 1986 squad, Carlos Bilardo, who will serve as the new director of football.
PHOTO: AFP
Their respective roles were rubber-stamped at a meeting with Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona.
“During the conversation with Grondona and Bilardo it became clear that I was to coach the team,” said Maradona, whose international playing career came to an ignominious end when he failed a dope test at the 1994 World Cup finals. “However, I am going to listen to everything Bilardo has to say. He is going to help me as we can’t leave someone with the success, experience and knowledge he brings on the sidelines.”
“Grondona’s ideas are the same as mine and Bilardo’s. My job will be to go and watch the players as often as possible,” Maradona said. “The idea is to return the squad to the spirit of 1986.”
Maradona — who was also part of the Argentina side that muscled its way into the 1990 final only to have two players sent off as they lost 1-0 to West Germany — won crucial support last week in his bid to become coach when the man charged with finding Alfio Basile’s successor threw his weight behind the World Cup-winning skipper.
“I’d like Maradona to be the next coach,” said Noray Nakis, president of the Argentine Football Association selection commission.
Basile resigned a fortnight ago after a World Cup qualifying defeat to Chile that left them in third place after 10 matches, seven points adrift of leaders Paraguay.
Maradona faced competition for the job from Carlos Bianchi, the former coach of Boca Juniors, whom he led to four national league titles, San Lorenzo coach Miguel Angel Russo and Sergio Batista, who took the Under-23 squad to Olympic gold in Beijing in August.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
RSS