A prodigious player followed by an ignominious star followed by an outspoken coach, the life of Diego Armando Maradona has come full circle. His accomplishments as a footballer are rivaled only by the controversies that always seem to surround him. His life has been like a pendulum oscillating between fame and shame. Come to think of it, Argentina’s match against England in the ‘86 semis can be considered as an abridged version of Diego’s life. From the infamous “Hand of God” to the stunning “Goal of the century”, El Pelusa has always lived a life of extremes. And now that he is back at the helm of the team he once led to world cup glory, get ready for another round of hysterical antics and theatrics.
So, what does it actually take to be the Coach of the Argentine football team?? (Apart from a coaching license and experience obviously). The coach of a national team is expected to be courageous, tactical and liberal. He should be free-spirited and should have the ability to reproduce results game after game. He should be good in addressing people and handling the media. And most importantly, he should have a never say die attitude and the ability to hit back and rise to the occasion.
Now, let us see as to why Diego Maradona is the man for the job.
Courage-It requires shear guts to drop players like Cambiasso and Zanetti from the squad, and even more guts to even consider restricting Milito (whose form over the past one year has been mind boggling to say the least) to the bench.
Free-Spirited and Liberal- Maradona is undoubtedly the most eccentric character to have ever walked the green turf. His promise for a streak through the streets of Buenos Aires on winning the Cup is a testimony to this. As for being liberal, to come up with an official approval for the players to have sex during the cup is as liberal as it gets considering the fact that the Brazilian squad has been thrown into isolation by Coach Dunga.
Reproducing Results- First for Cocaine in 1991 and then for Ephedrine in 1994, both resulting in him being sent packing. Needless to say, this guy surely knows how to reproduce the same results.
Addressing people and Handling Media- It took the “Special One” 7 years, two Portuguese liga titles, two premiership titles, two Serie A titles and two UEFA champions league before he was assured of a place on the cover pages of top magazines and newspapers. Compare this with Coach Maradona’s rise to tabloid stardom. Even after a string of loses and a close call in the qualifiers, Maradona is yet to see the inside cover. His highly verbal post-match press conference after the game with Uruguay could have easily been the last nail to the coffin, but on the contrary it just escalated him to even greater heights of Press popularity. Media management just couldn’t get any better.
Ability to bounce back- Cocaine Addiction, Bankruptcy, Obesity…you name it, this man has seen it all. To fight against all odds and be selected as the Head Coach of the Argentine National Team is truly a display of Diego’s fighting spirit and the fact that this man just doesn’t know when to give up.
Clearly, Argentina couldn’t have asked for a better replacement for Coach Basile. That being said, we can only hope for Diego’s men to deliver the goods when it matters the most, even if it results in a freak streak. However, only time will tell as to how the world will remember Coach Maradona-an overhyped and underperforming loudmouth, or the man who led Argentina to two world cup glories.
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