In part one of a two-party story, we look back at Diego Maradona’s chaotic tenure as Argentina’s manager.  Following Argentina’s struggles in the early stages of qualification for the 2010 World Cup, the Argentine FA turned to their old hero. Maradona, whose life since USA ’94, had been a spiral of drugs, drink, abortive comebacks, failed management attempts and near-death experiences, wasback as the leader of his nation.  The fears over Maradona’s temperament and ability were initially glossed over but alarm bells started to ring after a catastrophic 6-1 defeat against Bolivia, which ushered in a sequence of poor results, as Argentina – a team packed with talented attacking players – slipped towards World Cup failure.  Maradona’s inability to get a tune out of his natural successor, Lionel Messi, was a problem throughout the campaign – the‘father’ of Argentina continued to be loved but his introverted ‘son’ was viewed with indifference and even hostility by Argentina fans, who felt he was too Barcelona-centric.  Then, with Argentina on the brink of disaster, they were saved by a striker who had been in the international wilderness for a decade.

TWITTER/X

@MatthewOkot

@WorldCupRamble

Subscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.