Mumbai: Legendary footballer Diego Maradona on Wednesday criticised the Argentina football team for their recent poor performances and also wished for another chance of managing the national side.
La Albiceleste have been undergoing a torrid time in national colours failing to win matches on a regular basis. Playing a friendly match against Nigeria they lost 2-4, despite taking a two goal lead and Maradona who last managed the country during the 2010 World Cup accused this present team of letting Argentina down, in a short instagram message.
“I am angry because they have thrown away our prestige, but it’s not the fault of the lads,” he wrote. “I WANT TO COME BACK!!”
Not stopping at this, the 1986 World Cup hero also posted the record and statistics of 11 Argentina managers which showed Maradona’s 75% win record, the highest as manager of the national team, beating both the world Cup winning coaches César Luis Menotti (1978) and Carlos Bilardo (1986) who had a 65% and 52% in 78 and 79 games that they respectively managed.
Below the image he wrote, “Who won most?? We draw our own conclusions.”
Interestingly, it was under Carlos in the 1986 World Cup, that the ‘Golden Boy’ breathed fire, single handedly dragging Argentina to the Cup glory only for the second time in it’s history.
He returned as a coach in the 2010 world Cup, but suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat against hosts Germany in the quarter-finals before resigning in controversial terms.
The current Argentina team however has been a shadow of their past. New coach Jorge Sampaoli since taking charge in June has failed to inspire his boys and La Albiceleste could have well missed out on the flight to Russia, if not for talisman Lionel Messi’s magical hat-trick in the last qualifying match against Ecuador.
Meanwhile, a former Argentine government official committed suicide after he was accused of bribe-taking in testimony during a US trail of the top former FIFA officials in New York.
Jorge Delhon, a lawyer who worked under the administration of former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez, killed himself on Tuesday by jumping in front of a train in Buenos Aires, reported ESPN FC.