Maradona Hospitalized

[Grizzly]

Soccer legend Maradona hospitalized

WebPosted Mon, 19 Apr 2004 11:30:06 EDT

CBC SPORTS ONLINE - One of the most enduring sports icons in the world, retired soccer star Diego Maradona is in an intensive care unit in his native Argentina and is breathing with the help of a respirator.

Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title in Mexico, was hospitalized on Sunday in Buenos Aires due to heart and blood pressure problems after watching his former team Boca Juniors play.

Soccer legend Digeo Maradona is in critical condition in an intensive care unit in his native Argentina. (CP Photo)

It's the second time in recent years the 43-year-old has been hospitalized.

The private clinic said Maradona appeared to be suffering from the heart-related condition known as cardiomyopathy, a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't function properly. He had additional blood pressure problems and was being assisted with a breathing tube.

Maradona's personal physician Dr. Alfredo Cahe described Maradona's condition as "critical" but revealed that early tests showed his status improved overnight.

Cahe also stated that Maradona's hospitalization was not drug-related. The Argentine star has been undergoing drug rehabilitation for cocaine abuse in Cuba.

News of Maradona's condition dominated front-page headlines on Monday in soccer-mad Argentina where he is considered a God.

"Maradona hospitalized: severe cardiac crisis," read the front of the prominent daily La Nacion, while the Diario Popular proclaimed, "Diego fights for his life!"

One of the greatest players ever to play the game, Maradona was twice voted South American Player Of The Year (1979 and 1980) and made his international debut for Argentina at the tender age of 16.

After staring as a teen sensation with Argentinos Juniors in his native country and a short injury-plagued stint with Barcelona in Spain's La Liga, Maradona joined Italian team Napoli in 1984. It was while playing in Italy that the legend of Maradona began to take shape.

Maradona almost single-handedly transformed Napoli into a soccer power. In 259 matches between 1984 and 1991, he scored 115 goals in Serie A, a league known for strong defensive play, and led Napoli to a pair of division titles and the 1989 UEFA Cup.

Maradona's greatest triumph, however, came at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In seven games, Maradona scored five goals to lead Argentina to the championship over West Germany, but the moment that defined his career was his two-goal performance against England in the quarter-final.

Maradona snapped a scoreless tie by punching the ball into the English net, a goal he later claimed was guided by God's hand, leading the goal to forever being remembered as "The Hand of God".

Amid vehement protest, the disputed goal stood and England reeled.

Maradona took full advantage three minutes later, bursting into English territory and slaloming his way around defenders before beating goalkeeper Peter Shilton for a dazzling goal and a 2-0 advantage.

Some observers argued it was the most spectacular goal ever scored.

As the 1980s came to an end and the 1990s opened, Maradona's career began to flounder. Battling a weight problem and drug abuse, Maradona's game began to suffer. He left Napoli, floating between teams in Spain and Argentina, usually staying a year or less at each club.

In 1994, he was tossed off Argentina's World Cup side after he tested positive for the banned substance ephedrine. Not only was the positive drug test a huge embarrassment for him, it also ended his career on the national team.

In 1995, he returned to Argentina's domestic league, where he played sporadically for two years – scoring only seven goals in 31 games – scoring only seven goals in 31 games

[SABuffalo786]

Everything evens out in the end...

[amacpher]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Cahe also stated that Maradona's hospitalization was not drug-related. The Argentine star has been undergoing drug rehabilitation for cocaine abuse in Cuba.

It probably has more to do with his food in-take! If anyone has watched any Boca Juniors' matches lately you would have seen him in the luxury boxes at the stadium and know what I'm talking about!! If he was a foot taller, he'd be round.

[beachesl]

He is starting to stabilize,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/3637933.stm

... but he is probably an extreme case of that incorrigible Georgie Best, and it will only be a matter of time before he has another self-induced crisis, one he may not recover from. Sad, but the increased vulnerability will only add to his mythic status as the great everyman of the world's unwashed. Sad.

[beachesl]

"Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." -Isaiah 53, 1-5

These words of prophecy were later ascribed to another man, whoever he really was, who was then in the nearer future, but as I look back on fallen Diego Maradona, I realize that the words fit him into another myth. Before someone is brought down, he has to be elevated. Inevitably, he has to come from humble surrondings for the fall to be truly and tragically inevitable. The great unwashed can only share in glory when they know that their hero has risen from the same desolation as themselves and when they know that he will suffer the cruellest end that even they do not fear for themselves. Elvis almost had it. Muhammed Ali almost had it. Evita almost had it. But none of them had what Maradona had and did not have.

I spent part of an afternoon sharing Maradona with the crowds. As I saw him swagger out in that (even then) peeling pit of concrete called the San Paolo on a sunbleached afternoon in late April,1987, the reaction of the crowd and his reaction to them personified the tacky exhileration that is Naples and all the rest of the non-suburban world, a world I did not come from. That he would grow all the more the symbol of antithesis to the coming New World Order was unspoken but clear.

I recognized the swagger. It was the swagger in the smelly scabbed fellow I saw being released from the drunk tank in Yellowknife. The swagger form the sailor leaving the bordello near the Lisbon docks drawing feverishly on his cigarette. The swagger of the poor Omani peasant leading his two veiled wifes and children out of the van that pulled up to the market. The swagger of the teenage hood from the barrio who just stole stole the purse from a turista in the plaza. The swagger of the Viet Cong in black pajamas who pushed a machine gun in the back of a terrified captured ARVN officer in the television images from Saigon in 1975. The swagger of a man who a year before had called his outrageous first goal against the lordly English "the hand of God".

As I watched him throughout the match, I was amazed to see how much more he stood out in real life than I thought he would. He looked squatter, browner, chubbier, more inelegant, rougher, more fidgety, more devilish than I ever could have imagined. He was completely different from his thorughbred teamates and the players from AC Milan, all of whom carried a comparitively noble bearing, even the ones with the planned three days growth of facial hair and manicured roughness of their mops. He was maniacal even in repose, the tall lean bodies around him bent nervously towards him in expectation of fear or hope. Every 2 or three minutes he would wave his hands at the crowd and grin, and the buzzing about him would increase in agreement. Even with the ball on the other side of the pitch, all would be keeping at least one eye on him as if keeping a secret. Half an hour in, a teamate struck the first goal as half the Milan team were away facing Maradona. Maradona looked at the crowd as if to say "me next". Dodging and teasing in and out the enemy, he scored for himself ten minutes later after the keeper turned the wrong way, throwing his head back and laughing before the ball even crossed the line. He and the crowd spent the rest of the match mocking the opposition, the crowd singing ditties combining silly sacred and bawdy praises to their hero and insulting the Northerners who had insulted them for so long, while Maradona was constantly shaking his head at the ineffective opposition. The singing would only stop when Maradona had the ball, replaced by joyful laughing at the machinations of his body and the absurd reaction of the other bending players, bending down to be at his level at various ineffective angles. A Milan player managed a consolation goal towards the end, but it only spurred the mocking on further. It was only the last death shakes of a stuck bull, and the crowd celebrated the ceremony of the sure victory and the sure scudetto to come the following month. There were many players in this cathedral of dust, but all eyes were on the bleeding crucifix being carried up the aisle, their divine but damned Diego.

Perhaps it is only because televison did not become truly global until the 80's, but for most of the non-Western world Pele is a admired statue in history, but Maradona is the moving glorification of football. He is not the unattainable supermodel, he is not the Masserati, he is not Wall Street nor Mastercard. He is of the brown

despised world, or a world that is convinced that they are despised. Arab students of mine were convinced that he was of Arabic background, and spewing his name ecstatically at a Westerner like a curse from the Koran. I have met Mexicans who are convinced that his mother is Mexican. Watching from battered televisions beside the open sewers of the slums of Manila, Calcutta, Lagos, south Bogota and innumerable other dogeared places, refreshed but still grimy eyes saw themselves running and beating the sort that they occaisonally saw through the windows of rushing limosines. And they believed that this was part of their worldly revenge.

And they believed that one day their Maradona, who flew too close to the sun, would somehow be punished for his daring to mix the sh*t with the gold, and hold them up with him.

[beachesl]

BUMP...

What a surprise resurrection over the past four years! No matter aht you think of this chico, you have to hand it to him that he has got himself back into amasing shape and spirit. Saw him at teh Mendoza airport several months ago when he flew in for the Showbol indoor show, you could almost see the palm leaves waving.

Although football pundits and the educated here are shocked with his coming appointment as coach, the common man in the streets of this country are sure he is the messiah to lead the Selecion out of the comatose state it seems to be in, oin the mad scramble for the 4 1-2 spots for South America. Of couse he has next to no experience coaching and is a load mouth oaf. But if there is method in this madness, it is perhaps that only he can tame the Argentinian prima donas (though they are a lot nicer than the current crop of Euro prima donas). He is there as a frontman, he will really be just the passion for the football sense of his technical coach Bilardo. One is almost holding one`s breath waiting for the scraps though, the aoir is rife with the delicious risk.

[SCF08]

I think it's a disgrace that this man has got the job. First of all because of all the terrible things he's done in his life. How is this drug abusing , women exploiter going to be a role model for anyone.

And second it is a disgrace to any PROFESSIONAL hard working manager trying to make it in the game. How must they feel that such a nutjob gets this job.

Everyone knows from the start that this is going to run out of control. He'll fall out with players because Maradona's ego is probably 20 times bigger than any player.

Absolutely ridiculous.

[canucklefan]

This is the worst thing for Messi. Because of Maradona's recent comments against him, I have the feeling that he is jealous of Messi. I want to see next Argentina games and we will see what happens between the two.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by SCF08

I think it's a disgrace that this man has got the job. First of all because of all the terrible things he's done in his life. How is this drug abusing , women exploiter going to be a role model for anyone.

And second it is a disgrace to any PROFESSIONAL hard working manager trying to make it in the game. How must they feel that such a nutjob gets this job.

Everyone knows from the start that this is going to run out of control. He'll fall out with players because Maradona's ego is probably 20 times bigger than any player.

Absolutely ridiculous.

I thought you were relatively intelligent based on your posts, but this one has to rank amongst the most ignorant I have ever read on this board. First off you obviously know nothing about Maradona, and secondly you sound like you want to run football on the basis of a Calvinist dictatorship of the sort you used to enjoy in Holland, where you have to do a morality test. But even then you are clueless, because he fell into drugs like a lot of stars at a time when there was no awareness of the damage and when his circle did not protect him properly (we are talking about his Barcelona years, at a time when the city was almost dangerously libertine), and secondly because he has in fact been a rather exemplary family man and still is, despite some marital problems along the way. The guy is always with his daughters, if your parents had spent so much time with you I doubt you'd be as bitter as you obviously are now.

Another thing, of course, is that you just generally hate those spics?

Maradona was a brilliant player, if you were not so ignorant you might be able to understand him when he talks about the game, as he is usually very astute (as are the majority of Argentines). I don't think he will be the best coach for Argentina, but considering he has the authority, will have help (Bilardo), is an inspiration, and seems to be doing marvellously after some terrible years lost in his addiction, I say give him a chance. You can bet your life the Argentines would not be doing this standing third in their qualifying group if they felt it was going to leave them without a spot in South Africa.

Regarding Messi, the only problem is that Diego spoke the truth and many thought he was trying to give his son-in-law Kun an advantage when all he was doing was trying to help Messi advance in his play. What he said: that Messi was too egotistical in parts of the pitch where it did not matter, meaning you have to save your best moves for the critical attacking zone and play with the team in the midfield, until you get to that critical space. A brilliant comment, perfectly correct, nothing to do with Agüero who plays in the centre of the attack, and in fact a benefit to Barcelona, as since the comment he works very hard defending and even runs the line all the way back to the defensive corner, something he did not do when he had Ronaldinho's lazy model to go by.

So thanks Diego, and best of luck. Even though I am not an Argentina fan and do find Maradona, like many, a bit irritating at times as well, I think that this could be what a talented young team needs to get back on track and start playing to its potential.

[SCF08]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

I thought you were relatively intelligent based on your posts, but this one has to rank amongst the most ignorant I have ever read on this board. First off you obviously know nothing about Maradona, and secondly you sound like you want to run football on the basis of a Calvinist dictatorship of the sort you used to enjoy in Holland, where you have to do a morality test. But even then you are clueless, because he fell into drugs like a lot of stars at a time when there was no awareness of the damage and when his circle did not protect him properly (we are talking about his Barcelona years, at a time when the city was almost dangerously libertine), and secondly because he has in fact been a rather exemplary family man and still is, despite some marital problems along the way. The guy is always with his daughters, if your parents had spent so much time with you I doubt you'd be as bitter as you obviously are now.

Another thing, of course, is that you just generally hate those spics?

Maradona was a brilliant player, if you were not so ignorant you might be able to understand him when he talks about the game, as he is usually very astute (as are the majority of Argentines). I don't think he will be the best coach for Argentina, but considering he has the authority, will have help (Bilardo), is an inspiration, and seems to be doing marvellously after some terrible years lost in his addiction, I say give him a chance. You can bet your life the Argentines would not be doing this standing third in their qualifying group if they felt it was going to leave them without a spot in South Africa.

Regarding Messi, the only problem is that Diego spoke the truth and many thought he was trying to give his son-in-law Kun an advantage when all he was doing was trying to help Messi advance in his play. What he said: that Messi was too egotistical in parts of the pitch where it did not matter, meaning you have to save your best moves for the critical attacking zone and play with the team in the midfield, until you get to that critical space. A brilliant comment, perfectly correct, nothing to do with Agüero who plays in the centre of the attack, and in fact a benefit to Barcelona, as since the comment he works very hard defending and even runs the line all the way back to the defensive corner, something he did not do when he had Ronaldinho's lazy model to go by.

So thanks Diego, and best of luck. Even though I am not an Argentina fan and do find Maradona, like many, a bit irritating at times as well, I think that this could be what a talented young team needs to get back on track and start playing to its potential.

I dont agree with your post at all and thats all I want to say. We are clearly not going to agree on this one..

[SCF08]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

I thought you were relatively intelligent based on your posts, but this one has to rank amongst the most ignorant I have ever read on this board. First off you obviously know nothing about Maradona, and secondly you sound like you want to run football on the basis of a Calvinist dictatorship of the sort you used to enjoy in Holland, where you have to do a morality test. But even then you are clueless, because he fell into drugs like a lot of stars at a time when there was no awareness of the damage and when his circle did not protect him properly (we are talking about his Barcelona years, at a time when the city was almost dangerously libertine), and secondly because he has in fact been a rather exemplary family man and still is, despite some marital problems along the way. The guy is always with his daughters, if your parents had spent so much time with you I doubt you'd be as bitter as you obviously are now.

Another thing, of course, is that you just generally hate those spics?

Maradona was a brilliant player, if you were not so ignorant you might be able to understand him when he talks about the game, as he is usually very astute (as are the majority of Argentines). I don't think he will be the best coach for Argentina, but considering he has the authority, will have help (Bilardo), is an inspiration, and seems to be doing marvellously after some terrible years lost in his addiction, I say give him a chance. You can bet your life the Argentines would not be doing this standing third in their qualifying group if they felt it was going to leave them without a spot in South Africa.

Regarding Messi, the only problem is that Diego spoke the truth and many thought he was trying to give his son-in-law Kun an advantage when all he was doing was trying to help Messi advance in his play. What he said: that Messi was too egotistical in parts of the pitch where it did not matter, meaning you have to save your best moves for the critical attacking zone and play with the team in the midfield, until you get to that critical space. A brilliant comment, perfectly correct, nothing to do with Agüero who plays in the centre of the attack, and in fact a benefit to Barcelona, as since the comment he works very hard defending and even runs the line all the way back to the defensive corner, something he did not do when he had Ronaldinho's lazy model to go by.

So thanks Diego, and best of luck. Even though I am not an Argentina fan and do find Maradona, like many, a bit irritating at times as well, I think that this could be what a talented young team needs to get back on track and start playing to its potential.

I dont agree with your post at all and thats all I want to say. We are clearly not going to agree on this one..

[VPjr]

I'm not sure that Diego is the right man for the job but most of the players seem over the moon about the selection and I'm quite certain the results on the field are going to reflect the new mood in the camp.

I'm really curious to see if Diego's ascendency to this position will be the end of the road for some of the older Argies who still got called into the team under Alfio. I read somewhere that Diego wouldn't be against fielding more domestic league players in WC qualifying matches. I've got to believe that some of the older guard might have earned their last cap.

SCF08...In Argentina, most don't give a damn about Diego's past. He's loved and its a generally unconditional love. In a country where so much is falling apart economically and politically, Diego leading the NT is the best news they've had in a while.

canucklefan....From what I read on some argentine sites, I don't think Messi took the criticism badly at all. Messi is a wonderful player but he's not a complete player yet and criticism from one of his heroes can't do anything but motivate him. You'll see a better Messi when he next suits up for the albiceleste...mark my words.

[Desigol]

Ironic, since Argentina are set to play Europe's Capital of Heart Attacks.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

I'll go even further on this ridiculous character judgments-moralizing-sermonizing posts that pretend to know something about Maradona and totally miss the point: the guy goes for the underdog. Over and over again. And makes that his challenge.

They say he could have opted for more money at River but chose Boca. He went to Barça when we hadn't won a league in ten years, when the side was really floundering. And then famously headed off to one of the hardest challenges in soccer history, made Napoli Serie A champ and UEFA champ much to the chagrin of the northern Italian power network. He went to play in Sevilla well before they were at the level they are now, when it was a total risk. He is not a glory seeker at all, he over and over again prefers to take on a challenge and try to make something of a poor situation.

That, in my opinion, is worth something, compared to most soccer stars who are only worried about winning something on an already powerhouse side who can pay top dollar.

[beachesl]

A good article on the BBC website by Vickery

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timvickery/2008/11/maradona_unfairly_labelled_a_c.html

/////////////////////////

Coming to Maradona's defence

Tim Vickery 3 Nov 08, 03:43 PM Dante - or it may have been Silvio Dante from the Sopranos - is supposed to have said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality.

With that in mind, I felt the need to comment on the feedback from last week's blog, which was about Diego Maradona taking over as coach of Argentina.

Many posts from English readers attacked Maradona as a cheat, which I think is an injustice. I don't recall a player being cheated against as much as Maradona.

When his career began in the mid-70s it is calculated that players were running an average of around 5,000 metres per game. Twenty years later this figure had doubled. This is effectively the span of Diego's playing days. He was active at a time of intense physical development - but played almost his entire career before the mid-90s clampdown on the sliding tackle.

Maradona played the game without the protection from referees that today's stars take for granted. Some of the tackles that were aimed against him would nowadays be worth not only a red card, but a jail sentence as well. Virtually every time he took the field he was on the end of intimidation and violence, as opponents sought to reduce his effectiveness by any means possible.

That 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England is no exception. The film of the tournament shows Terry Fenwick's elbow being pushed into Maradona's face.

It is hardly surprising that those who are on the end of constant cheating develop a cynical side. Older Brazilian referees recall that Pele was a master of conning them into giving free kicks, linking arms with a defender and bringing both of them down while making it appear that he had suffered the foul.

Certainly I think that if I spent years being kicked, jostled and elbowed I might feel within my rights to punch one into the back of the net in the heat of the moment.

It is true that different cultures approach these things in different ways. Bobby Charlton tells the story of how at a Fifa meeting of former players he called for a crackdown on diving.

Someone he calls "an old South American international" apparently replied; "Don't you think, as a professional, that if we can get away with creating an advantage for our side, we really should be applauded?"

I believe there is more tolerance of this type of behaviour in South America, where showing the cunning necessary to get away with something is widely praised. In Brazil it is often said that beating a big rival with an illegal goal adds extra pleasure to the victory.

But before we English try to claim the moral high ground we should forget any notions of perfection.

In his autobiography Martin Peters writes about the game at home to Poland in 1973, which England had to win to qualify for the following year's World Cup. Peters was a magnificent player, and though I've never met him personally, has always come across as an upstanding man.

But 35 years ago, with England a goal down and time running out, he confesses that: "It was looking desperate, and in such circumstances desperate measures are sometimes required." He was tackled inside the area by Poland's left back, "He barely touched me but I went flying. I dived. It wasn't a penalty, but the referee didn't see it that way."

The resulting goal was not enough to qualify England for the World Cup. But Peters' frank admission should be enough to destroy any illusions about England having some natural monopoly on the concept of fair play.

It is unjust, then, to throw the label of cheat at Maradona - just as it is unwise to view him as a god. He is a human being, with remarkable talent, but also with flaws. Indeed, just as with Pele, it is probably the case that his flaws were part of his drive towards greatness.

On the field Maradona gave so much pleasure to so many that he deserves to enjoy a contented and fruitful second half of his life. That's why, although he wouldn't have been my candidate, he should be congratulated on becoming Argentina's new coach - for two reasons.

Firstly because he has recovered sufficiently from his problems to be able to take on the position.

Secondly because he is prepared to put himself on the line. There are many who think that a great idol should never put his prestige at risk. I disagree. That's for museum pieces. Maybe some of the best places in heaven are reserved for those brave enough to keep seeking a new challenge.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

The English are worried about some kinds of illicit play as it exposes their inferior skill level, which they can only compensate by "boot tackles" and other types of their own favourite types of illicit play. Including playing the opponent's leg instead of the ball, then complaining about the opponent diving or cheating.

You can't complain about one culture's way of playing as being illegitimate if you don't recognize all of the illegitimate ways your culture has to get an unfair advantage. Especially when British football still dominated the International Board, which is the organization that decides what it legal or not in the sport.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a degree of racism in part of English football which goes quite beyond the hand of God or any sort of rivalry on the pitch. Fortunately, this seems to be in decline and English club football is gradually becoming more international in both style and values, as well as in the nationalities it is able to happily accomodate on the pitch.

[masster]

^Fantastic article

[Saviola7]

It seems that Simoes isn't the only coach who gets grief over wanting to hire his own staff:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7726891.stm

Maradona may quit Argentina role

Argentina head coach Diego Maradona says he will walk out on the national team if he is refused permission to appoint Oscar Ruggeri as his assistant.

Since being appointed on 4 November, the 48-year-old has reportedly been in dispute with the Argentina Football Association over his choice of staff.

Maradona's first match is scheduled to be away to Scotland on Wednesday.

"I will be the trainer with my technical staff I want, otherwise I will not come to Glasgow," he said.

Carlos Bilardo, the Argentina FA's technical secretary, insists Maradona will not carry out his threat.

"He won't resign. I have spoken to Diego and told him he has to go slowly. There are 500 people he can choose to assist him," said Bilardo.

"When I coached the national team (between 1983 and 1990) I had to change my whole staff after four or five months of work.

"But Diego wants them all at once."

Argentina FA boss Julio Grondon, who Maradona is reported to be in dispute with, would not reveal the reasons for his dislike of former Argentina defender Ruggeri.

"It's my problem," he said. "I don't want to talk about this."

----------------

What did he sleep with his wife or something?

[beachesl]

...more likely his daughter or mistress.

Maradona...the risk of hiring a livewire mouth should have been obvious. When you give in to popular demand, you have to suffer the slings and arrows. Weve not heard nuthin yet!

---------------------------------------------------

Maradona says he never considered quittingReuters, Thursday November 13 2008

(recasts, updates with Maradona quotes)

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Argentina coach Diego Maradona on Thursday denied that he had considered quitting the job only a week after taking over because of a row over his choice of assistant.

"There's never been a resignation, there's never been anything," Maradona told reporters during a visit to the resort of Mar del Plata.

"I'm with the Argentina team for the players and not for anything else," added the 48-year-old, one of the greatest players the world has seen and also one of its most troubled.

Maradona, due to make his debut in next Wednesday's friendly away to Scotland, has run into a deadlock with Argentina Football Association (AFA) president Julio Grondona because he wants former defender Oscar Ruggeri as his assistant.

Grondona has publicly voiced his opposition to Ruggeri, citing personal differences.

On Wednesday, there was widespread speculation among local cable television networks and newspapers that Maradona could even quit over the row.

Critics see the disagreement as the worst possible start and a foretaste of what may be to come with the notoriously unpredictable and impulsive former World Cup captain at the helm.

The choice of Maradona's assistant had already turned into a saga.

Before being officially confirmed, Maradona said that his former 1986 World Cup team mates Sergio Batista and Jose Luis Brown would share the job.

But he back-tracked and said that Ruggeri was top of his list.

Argentine media said Thursday that Miguel Angel Lemme and Alejandro Mancuso would take on the role on an interim basis for next Wednesday.

Earlier on Thursday, Ruggeri tried to defuse the row, telling Maradona to travel to Scotland.

"I want him to travel, to coach the team and we'll speak again," the rugged former defender told the cable television channel TyC Sports.

"I would be delighted to help but, if not, I will support him from the sidelines as I have always done."

"Once he (Grondona) has chosen the coach, he should give him the freedom to pick his own staff."

(Reporting Luis Ampuero, additional reporting by Jorge Otaola; Writing by Brian Homewood)

[beachesl]

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Diego Maradona

'He was sent from above'Maradona was a great footballer, and could be equally inspiring as Argentina's new coach. But does that explain why 120,000 people literally worship him? Jonathan Franklin gets baptised in the Church of MaradonaJonathan Franklin The Guardian, Wednesday November 12 2008 Article history

A member of the Church of Maradona stands next to banners with images of the football legend in a Buenos Aires restaurant. Photograph: Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

The congregation screams so loudly that I can't even hear the priest, even though I am in the front row. As the service gets under way, the hundreds of faithful recite their own unique version of The Lord's Prayer:

Our Diego

Who art on earth

Hallowed be thy left foot

Thy magic come,

Thy goals be remembered

The lights dim, and six men in white tunics walk up the aisle. Each member of La Iglesia Maradoniana - the Church of Maradona - has the great footballer's number 10 on his back. Up front, an altar boy holds aloft a bloody football. It looks as if it has been tortured. Blood drips off its leather hexagons. Coils of barbed wire crown it. Behind the altar is a huge portrait of the man whom the crowd have come to worship - Diego Armando Maradona.

The man behind me wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "The Pope is German, but God is Argentine" and a stylised Maradona running at full speed, preceded by a football. The room is hot, sweaty and smells of beer - not surprising, as everyone has a glass in their hand. As we gather around a small stage that pays tribute to the glorious goals of the blessed Diego, men's voices echo as they chant:

He was crucified, killed and tortured

Suspended from the pitch

They cut his legs

But he returned and his magic spell was reborn

A man begins to cry, the entire inside of his right arm covered by a tattoo spelling out DIEGO. He hugs his son, a boy of three or four who stares bug-eyed at a 2-metre-high wooden church that is at the centre of the stage. Inside stands a statue of you-know-who, head held high, hand over his heart. With the Argentina shirt on his chest and his foot planted atop a Puma football, Maradona looks invincible.

The Iglesia Maradoniana does not yet have its own building. It is a travelling display of love and affection, whose icons and statues visit all corners of Argentina. "This procession is important - it demonstrates how unconditional we are to Diego," says Alejandro Veron, who helps to run the official website. "Our religion is football and, like all religions, it must have a god. We will never forget the miracles he showed on the pitch and the spirit he awoke in us, the fanatics."

Now, on a hot evening in Buenos Aires, the priest signals to me and speaks the words I have been waiting for: "And now your baptism."

I walk up to the stage, take off my top, and the crowd screams as I slip on the No 10 shirt and remember my rehearsals. Just one shot. Do it right, I tell myself. The baptism ceremony aims to recreate the sacred moment during the 1986 World Cup quarter final in which Maradona scored his famous mano del Dios (hand of God) goal by swatting the ball into the England net with his fist. Match officials stuck with a poor angle assumed Maradona had used his head, but replays clearly show Maradona punching the ball away from the England goalie, the startled and then indignant Peter Shilton. At a press conference after the game, Maradona would not admit his hand had touched the ball. "The hand of God" sent it into the net, he claimed.

I move over to a life-size poster of Shilton jumping at Maradona. In this version, Maradona and the ball have been Photoshopped out of the frame. This is where the baptism ceremony begins. I prepare to leap.

As the ball is tossed in, I jump, trying to shield my hand with my head, then "pow!" I punch. It works! My re-creation is worthy of a certificate and now I am signed into the register, an official member of the Church of Maradona.

Today, October 29, is a special day for the congregation. It is their Christmas Eve, the day before their god was born. And so 500 are bunched tight near a Christmas tree decorated in the white and blue of Argentina's national colours. The branches are covered in smiling photos of Maradona. If you look closely, you can see that he is holding his holy shroud - the Argentine national strip. It's doubly appropriate this year, with Argentine football officials announcing that Maradona will be the new national coach. It is a remarkable comeback for a former drug addict with some spectacular scandals to his name. A poll for Clarin newspaper in Buenos Aires suggested that 74% of Argentine public did not want him to get the job.

The members of the Church of Maradona naturally see this as heresy. Who better than their god to lead them to the World Cup finals in 2010?

"We have been with Maradona during the darkest moments, and now we are here with him - how can we not be celebrating?" wrote Jose Caldeira, the author of La Iglesia Maradoniana, a book chronicling the church's first 10 years.

"The darkest moments" is code for Maradona's long affair with cocaine. For almost his entire career, Maradona snorted his way to both fame and international disgrace. In good times he scored glorious goals. In bad, his body swelled up like a whale's and he was rushed to the emergency room.

His admirers even put a positive spin on that. "He admitted that he was a coke addict. With all the cocaine he did, a normal person's body would not have stood it. A mere mortal would have died," says Mariano Israelit, whose job at the Fox Sports channel has brought him into the footballer's inner circle. "Diego is in another dimension. He says and does many stupid things. He makes a mistake and he is pardoned because he is a myth, a living legend."

In one infamous episode, Maradona fired a rifle at journalists and photographers who had staked out his home. Then he was photographed naked, snorting coke, surrounded by nude women. That scene took place in Cuba, in a clinic where Diego was supposedly being treated for his addiction. Since then, however, he has clawed his way back to respectability. And it is that fighting spirit, that passion for victory, that makes Church of Maradona members so loyal.

Fans have come to Buenos Aires from the US, Brazil, Denmark and Italy to celebrate the church's 10th anniversary. Some take pictures; others simply toast their god. A pile of gifts and tokens piles up - old photographs, sports cards, even an oil portrait of Diego with brushed curls and a yellow halo. The Maradona Bible lies near the altar - a worn copy of Maradona's bestselling biography Yo Soy El Diego (I Am Diego).

Off to one side is the Diego tattoo competition. Who has the best likeness of the almighty inked on to their body? On stage, the finalists of the "Who Knows Most About Diego?" competition are rattling off the colour of their god's first car and the birth date of his second child.

Like the druids at Stonehenge, Maradona's disciples have their own sacred dates. Their year begins on Maradona's birthday, October 30, and this is not 2008 but 48AD (After Diego). The church also has its own ten commandments.

Does all this hero-worship worry established religions? Not if Father Marcial Cabon, of Buenos Aires's Madre del Dios congregation, is any guide. "He's not a god at all," Father Cabon later tells me. This Catholic priest is far more interested in Maradona the coach. "He is going to be a winner," he says. "And if we play England, he will lead us to victory."

Back at the church, Jose Gabino, a tired-looking 51-year-old, tells me that he used to dream of being like Maradona. "In good or bad he tells it like it is." His eyes well up and he proclaims: "Diego is sent from above. God does not speak to Maradona, he speaks to God." And no, Gabino is not drunk.

"Are you worried that this movement might die out, just last a single generation?" I ask him.

The answer is sitting next to us.

"I named my son Diego out of admiration," says Gabino, pointing to the 17-year-old. "One fan dies, a hundred are born."

Since its founding in the city of Rosario, the church has grown from a small group of friends to a worldwide presence. On some days more than 500 people have asked to join. Veron puts the current membership at around 120,000. Even professional football players have flocked to the church. Ronaldinho begged to have his own Church of Maradona T-shirt, and Carlos Tevez of Manchester United and Lionel Messi of Barcelona are card-carrying members. They're not quite as devout, however, as Lionel Diaz, who was one of the church's original members. "My son is one and a half years old, and he has learned that when I say 'Ole! Ole!' he should respond 'Diego! Diego!' He can say three words: Mum, Dad and Diego." Diaz's five-year-old daughter, meanwhile, "can recognise Maradona no matter what. I show her pictures of him with a beard, without a beard, with sunglasses and without - she never fails."

As the service continues, video screens show Diego's best goals, Diego's most famous interviews. Here he is with Fidel Castro, and again turning the entire England team inside out during the 1986 World Cup.

When the clock strikes midnight, Maradona's birthday arrives and a building-rattling party begins. Waiters pass trays of champagne, a toast is made. Then a phone rings and the crowd falls silent. It is God, live by speaker phone.

"Thank you for giving me so much affection and gathering on a day like my birthday," says Maradona. The crowd erupts. Tears flow. Beers flow. The crowd sings back: "Champions yet again . . . Again like '86.""What you're singing is the dream I have inside me," says Maradona. "God is going to be with us."

As far as his compatriots are concerned, of course, God is already with them. Diego Maradona is unconditionally, unbearably Argentinian. As a player in the national team he even slept in an Argentina shirt. During the 1990 World Cup, with his ankle swollen to the size of a grapefruit, he still gave 100% on the pitch. Maradona was adored because he played not for fame nor fortune but for his nation. Working-class fans above all recognised him as one of them, this boy from the slums of Villa Fiorito, whose Sunday barbecue was as likely to feature cat as cow. When Maradona was sold to Barcelona, his fans at Boca invaded the airport, broke through security and lay down on the runway in an attempt to prevent his plane from taking off.

"The Argentinian is passionate, temperamental, bloody," says Hernan Amez, one of the three men who founded the church. "Maradona demonstrates that persona on a football pitch. He is the one who never gives up.

"Each of the guys here has a special Maradona moment," he continues, as a waiter pushes through the crowd with a tray of champagne. "Maybe it is a memory of a brother who is not alive any more, or a friend who is no longer around. Maradona makes us remember those moments - they live in our heart. It is impossible to separate him from these emotions. Maradona makes us feel so strong. That is why we love him as much as a god."

The Church of Maradona's ten commandments

1. The ball is never soiled.

2. Love football above all else.

3. Declare unconditional love for Diego and the beauty of football.

4. Defend the Argentina shirt.

5. Spread the news of Diego's miracles throughout the universe.

6. Honour the temples where he played and his sacred shirts.

7. Don't proclaim Diego as a member of any single team.

8. Preach and spread the principles of the Church of Maradona.

9. Make Diego your middle name.

10. Name your first son Diego.

[canso]

I worship Zidane myself but this was some of the best written stuff that a soccer fan can read these days.

Beachesl is that you're own article that first one? "With his stripes we are healed." What else could it possibly mean?

[amacpher]

Nice read and another glimpse into how religions got started. Lets hope the children of this Gabino character aren't too screwed-up in the head when they're older...

[Guest Jeffery S.]

The whole Maradona religion story is years old and boring now, I must have seen it in the 90s. However well written, the whole schtick is stupid, come on. He was a great player, and an interesting one at that. If he is half the coach Argentina will be where it always has since he came on the scene or just before, pushing for a WC championship.

[amacpher]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

The whole Maradona religion story is years old and boring now, I must have seen it in the 90s. However well written, the whole schtick is stupid, come on.

Pretty much anything related to religion is stupid. The world's biggest circle-jerk.

[canso]

"Pretty much anything related to religion is stupid."

You mean things like Birth, Death, Love, Morality and Hope?