‘I nearly died’ – Maradona misses out on first title as coach

Diego Maradona’s hopes of winning his first coaching title were dashed Sunday as his Dorados team lost the Mexican second-division finals, along with their shot at promotion.

Rivals Atletico San Luis scored the lone goal of the secondleg in extra time to clinch the title and a spot in the first division — thesecond time they have left Maradona empty-handed in two consecutive finals.

   

“I nearly died… But it’s fine. I’m sad for my boys,though,” Maradona said after the match.

The Argentine great and his team faced a tough task headinginto the second-leg match, having been held 1-1 in the first leg at home inCuliacan, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.

They managed to hold Atletico to 90 goalless minutes playingaway in the central city of San Luis Potosi.

But Spanish defender Unai Bilbao slotted in the winning goalfor the home team in the 103rd minute, after Dorados ‘keeper Gaspar Serviofailed to clear a free kick.

The loss ended a 14-game unbeaten streak for Dorados, whofaced a hostile crowd of nearly 25,000 that booed Maradona relentlessly.

Maradona, 58, took the coaching job at the Sinaloa-basedclub in September — amusing skeptics who questioned why the 1986 World Cupchampion, who has publicly battled various addictions, would move to a placebetter known for drug cartels than football.

But he has answered his critics by coaching the strugglingDorados to back-to-back finals, both against San Luis.

San Luis defeated Dorados 4-3 on aggregate in the fallseason finals in December.

Having now won the spring finals, too, the club — anaffiliate of Atletico Madrid — gain automatic promotion to the first division.Had they lost, they would have faced a playoff against Dorados to decide whichwon promotion.

Maradona can legitimately boast to having turned Doradosaround: they were in 13th place in their 15-team division when he arrived.

But the dream of winning a title as coach still eludes him,after stints managing the Argentine national team and various clubs inArgentina, the Middle East and now Mexico.In April, he said he planned to leave Dorados atthe end of the season, alleging the league’s referees were biased against him.

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