Maradona not going anywhere before World Cup
Diego Maradona was one of the greatest players ever to step onto a soccer field.But while he was beloved by millions of fans during his playing career, the Argentine ace was also a favorite target of the media and always walked around with a big bull's-eye painted on his back, thanks in large part to his self-indulgent lifestyle and public acts of arrogance.Not much has changed since El Diego retired from the game he learned to play while growing up in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.Although the former Boca Juniors star has kicked his drug problem, he still has an air of conceit and the press continues to hound him, especially since he took over as manager of Argentina's national team in November 2008.Maradona was handed the coaching reins following the resignation of Alfio Basile and, though Argentina improved under his tutelage, it didn't disguise the fact that the team laboured through a tumultuous qualifying campaign.
During Maradona's tenure, La Albicelestes suffered a historic and humiliating 6-1 humbling at the hands of lowly Bolivia in La Paz. A harder-than-it-looked win over Colombia was followed by three consecutive losses (to Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay) before Maradona's men finally secured a World Cup berth on the final day of the South American qualifiers.
