Diego Armando Maradona has been officially appointed as Argentina new coach, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Tuesday. The 48-year-old Argentine was tipped last week to succeed compatriot Alfio Basile, who stepped down last month after a series of disappointing results. Late on Tuesday, the AFA announced during a press conference the appointment of the diminutive brilliant, who was eager to take up the job. "Today is a special day for Argentinean football. Maradona is the new technical director and Carlos Bilardo (the 1986 World Cup winning coach) is the general manager of the team," AFA president Julio Grondona said. The former Barcelona and Napoli legend vowed to do his utmost to keep his country's outfit on an even keel. "It's an honor. It's a dream come true. I'm going to give it my all to make sure that things go well," Maradona said.
Can Maradona lead his country to glory again? "We're going to work everyday so that Argentina has a national team that keeps getting better and better." His first match as Argentina boss will be on November 19th against Scotland in a friendly game. Maradona's 1986 World Cup teammates Sergio Batista and Jose Luis Brown have been also appointed as assistant coaches. A football legend in his own right, Maradona's coaching experience is still limited. He had two short spells as a tactician with Deportivo Mandiyu and Racing in the mid 90's, but his technical abilities didn't impress. In addition to lack of experience, Maradona has a long history of misconducts and eccentric behavior, as well as an infamous bout of drug addiction which was revealed right after the 1990 World Cup.
