Argentina legend Diego Maradona has expressed desire for a second stint at coaching his national team and this time he says he would do it for free. It has been eight years since Maradona last was at the helm of the Argentine football team, one that ended in a World Cup failure.
The World Cup-winning captain for Argentina coached the national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where his team were thrashed 4-0 by Germany in the quarter-finals. Now with Argentina’s calamitous campaign at the 2018 FIFA World Cup under Jorge Sampaoli coming to an end prematurely in the Round of 16, Maradona is fancying another shot.
“Yes, and I would do it for free,” Maradona said on a Venezuelan TV show. “I wouldn’t ask for anything in return.” Lionel Messi’s Argentina were outplayed by France and the 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe 4-3 in the last 16 stage of the World Cup this year.
Sampaoli came under severe criticism for his lack of control over the Argentine dressing room and his inability to have different plans for Argentina’s success. With Argentina’s performance in Russia, Sampaoli’s job is under serious threat even though the coach’s contract exists till 2022.
Maradona, on the other hand, has only coached two club sides in the United Arab Emirates since his 2010 stint with Argentina. He is still one of the most controversial faces in football, and he hit the headlines in Russia for his colourful appearances at Argentina games.
Never a stranger to extremes, Maradona produced some of this World Cup’s lasting images – celebrating victories in iconic poses, giving the finger to fans, and being helped into a hospitality box to be seen by doctors after suffering from low blood pressure.
“People think I am happy but my heart is heavy,” Maradona said about Argentina’s elimination. “I feel really bad that everything we built with so much effort we destroyed so easily.”