Buenos Aires, July 28: Diego Maradona was removed as coach of Argentina’s national team on Tuesday, ending an erratic 21-month stint that mirrored his own long history of unpredictable behavior and culminated in a humiliating exit in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The Argentine Football Association, following a unanimous vote of its executive committee, said that his contract would not be renewed after Maradona had said he would only accept the AFA’s offer of a new four-year deal through to the 2014 World Cup if his entire staff also remained.
That was unacceptable to Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona. He had asked for several assistants to be replaced. One of them is Maradona’s close friend, Alejandro Mancuso.
The federation’s executive committee sided with Grondona, a little more than three weeks after Argentina was eliminated in the World Cup in South Africa with a 4-0 loss to Germany.
AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo called the decision “very painful for the AFA” but said there was no way to solve the impasse.
“The president said that there was a significant difference between what AFA wanted to achieve and Maradona’s aspirations for the future,” Cherquis Bialo said. “There was a wide gap, and it was impossible to narrow it.”
The AFA said youth team manager Sergio Batista would be the interim coach for the friendly against Ireland on Aug. 11 in Dublin.
Despite Maradona’s contract not being renewed, Cherquis Bialo hinted there might be a role in the future for him.
“This marks the end of a first chapter with Mr. Maradona,” Cherquis Bialo said. “The doors to this house, as always, will be open to him.”
Possible successors include two club coaches in Argentina: Alejandro Sabella of Estudiantes and Miguel Russo of Racing. Former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa has also been mentioned as an option. Bielsa led Chile to the final 16 of the World Cup.
Asked who will be the new coach, Cherquis Bialo offered nothing. “The people who were in the meeting have no name in their imaginations,” Cherquis Bialo said. “It has just been announced that the contract with the coach will not be renewed, and so, a new stage begins.”
Maradona tried to do it his way, a style which brought him glory in leading Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title.
“Diego shut himself off to any change,” executive committee member Luis Segura said on Argentine television. “Diego has all the right to do what he wants. But so does AFA.”
Maradona was also at odds with Carlos Bilardo, the current director of the national team who coached the 1986 World Cup side. He also lobbied to have Oscar Ruggeri on his staff. Ruggeri was a defender in the 1986 team but has fallen out with Grondona.
The 49-year-old Maradona became Argentina’s coach in November 2008, replacing Alfio Basile and taking over a team he led to Argentina’s second World Cup title. His results were mixed. He had little coaching experience, and the team suffered two of the worst losses in history: a 6-1 hammering at Bolivia in World Cup qualifying, and the recent World Cup defeat to Germany.
Argentina played with flair in South Africa, notably Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez. But Maradona’s inexperience was obvious in the loss to Germany, which exposed Argentina’s defensive frailties and lack of midfield speed. Dressed in a gray suit, Maradona’s enthusiastic and demonstrative antics on the sidelines simply failed to mask his tactical deficiencies.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST