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All Star Maradona

Will Maradona be in South Africa 2010?

It is hardly surprising that the build up to the latest round of international fixtures is dominated by Diego Maradona, such is the all-star nature of the man.

Ever since he first burst onto the scene, at a time when the Argentinean had a strong squad being World Cup winners in 1978, his appearance at Hampden against Scotland in 1979 helped Britain fall to the player’s talented charms. There were rumours that Sheffield United were close to bringing the player to Britain but Maradona would go on to strut his stuff in Spain and Italy as his playing career took to him to the heights of European football.

The absolute pinnacle of his playing career came in Mexico 1986 when he led his nation to their second World Cup and four years later, took them to within an inch of capturing their third title in Italy. Sadly, in USA in 1994, the international playing career of Maradona came to an undignified end, hounded out by Fifa over allegedly failing a drugs test but not after he lit up the tournament with a wonder goal and crazy celebration. As a player, Maradona was never out of the headlines but his life seemed to peter away at this point.

Terry Butcher Has Criminal Record
This changed in late 2008 when he was appointed national team manager of his beloved nation, who were going through a difficult stage in their World Cup qualification process, and ironically enough, a return trip to Scotland was the debut for his international management career.

The Scottish fans have always loved Maradona and the Hand of God and the mazy dribble goals against England in Mexico 1986 only cemented their admiration for the player. Much of the media attention for this game surrounded the childish hissy fits provided by Terry Butcher, Scotland’s assistant coach, who moaned about Maradona’s previous indiscretions and private life. It should never be forgotten that Terry Butcher has a criminal conviction for thuggish behaviour on a football field and perhaps Butcher is one of the very few people who can criticise Diego Maradona for his past mis-demeanours.

Anyway, winding up Butcher and winning at Hampden gave Diego the best possible start but ever since then, very little has gone right for the world famous number 10 and as Argentina start to move towards make or break time in their bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, Diego is talking about standing down from his role of boss of the national team.

Crunch Talks for Diego
After crucial games against Peru and Uruguay, Maradona will have crunch talks with the president of the AFA to discuss the way ahead for Argentinean football. The team currently sits in fifth place in the group, a position which will not grant them automatic qualification to the world cup. Fifth position in the South American qualifiers will only earn a two-legged play-off spot against the fourth placed team from the North, Central American and Caribbean section.

This should not be a prospect that is too daunting for Argentina but on current form, it is fair enough to suggest that any team would give them a hard match. It is immensely scary to think that Lionel Messi may not get the opportunity to strut his stuff at the greatest world football stage of all time but unless Argentina get their act together, this may be the case.

Will the World Miss Messi?
It is hard to understand how a team that contains Lionel Messi, not to mention players like Tevez, Mascherano and Higuain have struggled but there has been a malaise in the Argentinean camp long before Maradona came on board. However, there is no doubt that the superstar has failed to improve matters on the park and for many fans, the thumping received at the hands of Bolivia was too much to take.

The altitude in Bolivia is always going to provide a tougher match than the comparative strengths and skills of both teams would indicate but this was a drubbing and one which sent shockwaves around the world of football. Maradona is making noises that it may be him who resigns from the position but unless improvement occurs in the next two games, it may be him who is asked to leave his current job. As a national hero and icon, this would be an unbelievably embarrassing way to step down.

Peru Game Should Bring Three Points
Peru are first up in Buenos Aires and given that their opponents are currently bottom of the group, there will never be a better chance for Argentina to get three points on the board. Failure to defeat the lowest ranked team in the group is likely to be enough to see of Diego’s chances of remaining in charge but given the recent dropped points, it would be foolish to confidently predict the home side will triumph.

Peru will come to Argentina with resolute defending on their mind and with a determination to avoid defeat. Given that the patience of the home crowd is likely to be wafer thin, keeping a clean sheet for the first half may see the Argentinean fans turn on their superstars, opening the game up for a massive shock result. In the greater construct of the group, the midweek trip to Montevideo in

Uruguay is much more important for Argentina but unless a win is secured on Saturday, it may not matter.

Uruguay are the team ranked below Argentina entering these round of fixtures with only one point separating the two teams. An away trip to Ecuador is not the ideal preparation but Uruguay will be resolutely aware that their destiny is in their hands and six points from these two games would seem them leapfrog two rivals directly into the qualification places in the group at the most important time. With the teams either side of Argentina playing each other on the Saturday, defeating Peru will see Argentina, at the least, almost certainly book their play-off place and will likely see them bound for the world’s biggest tournament. Whether one of the world’s biggest stars will be in charge of them at the time is an entirely different question.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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