That Was Quick—Maradona Reportedly Threating To Quit Argentina Post Before It Begins

On the eve of his inaugural run as the head of Argentina’s most prized resource–its soccer team–Diego Maradona is reportedly threatening to quit as the team’s manager because he wanted Oscar Ruggeri to be his assistant coach. The leaks began after a heated exchange with the head of Argentina’s soccer federation Julio Grondona over the selection, which he completely opposed. Why?

“I don’t like his face,” said Grondona as he forced his way through a crowd of reporters to his car. “It’s a personal thing.”

Ah, the clarity of the Argentines. It’s refreshing, really. However, a cooler head has prevailed and is trying to council the whole thing out.

Argentina FA technical secretary Carlos Bilardo said: “He won’t resign. I have spoken to Diego and told him he has to go slowly. There are 500 people he can choose to assist him… When I coached the national team (between 1983 and 1990) I had to change my whole staff after four or five months of work. But Diego wants them all at once.”

Well, that’s not the best way to start things off, is it? We wonder if Javier Mascherano is having second thoughts about captaining a team where the coach is one bad day from going off the wagon and attempting to snort the foul lines. You say that’s mean, we say that’s the way he’s behaving and it’s an outcome we wouldn’t be surprised to find out.
“Maradona stays as Argentina boss” [ESPN]
Maradona To Quit As Argentina Coach - Report [Goal]
Maradona Could Resign As Argentina Coach - Reports [Javno]
Image [ESPN]