Diego Maradona Relieved Of Argentina Duties
Diego Maradona has been relieved of his duties as Argentina manager, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed.
Despite admitting he wanted to remain in charge, Maradona refused to change his backroom staff and the AFA voted not to renew his deal, instilling under-20 coach Sergio Batista as caretaker boss.
“Nobody has been sacked” said AFA president Julio Grondona. “A contract has not been extended because the conditions were not suitable”.
A number of potential successors to Maradona have been suggested, including Racing Club manager Miguel Angel Rosso, Alejandro Sabella, who was Daniel Passarella’s assistant at the 1998 World Cup and Batista but Grondona insisted nobody had been chosen to take on the role permanently.
“We have time to choose the technical staff,” he said. “We have not thought about anybody yet.
“Batista is a member of the staff of this body so he will obviously fill the place as long as is needed.
Batista was a team-mate of Maradona and played alongside him in midfield in the 1986 World Cup final and then managed Argentina to a gold medal victory at the 2008 Olympics.
He will choose the squad for Argentian’s next match – an encounter with the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 11 August, the first international football match at the redeveloped Lansdowne Road site.
Despite looking frail in defence during the World Cup, a Maradona-led Argentina finished top of Group B after beating all three of their group stage opponents – Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.
An easy 3-1 victory against Mexico in the second round eased them into the quarter finals.
However, they were soundly beaten 4-0 by Germany and that reignited the criticism of Maradona’s capability.
Following his appointment in November 2008, Maradona, won eight but lost seven of his 15 matches as manager of his home nation.
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Posted by Kristin
on Jul 28 2010. Filed under Featured News, Sports.
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