What Does Maradona Mean for Argentina?
By Daniel Altman (NY Times).http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/what-does-maradona-mean-for-argentina/Lobby for something long enough, and you just might get it. For years, Diego Maradona said what an honor it would be to coach Argentina’s national team, going so far as to present the position as the logical capstone to his career in soccer. Few Argentines thought the opportunity would arrive so soon.
Though a genius on the pitch – he still shows off his skills in a made-for-television five-a-side league that pits famous veterans of South American national squads against each other – Maradona has little experience as a coach. In his only stint with a major team, he led Racing Club to a record of two wins, three losses and six draws before abandoning the post.
Yet even more worrying to some Argentines is Maradona’s roller-coaster lifestyle, punctuated by frequent medical problems and political pronouncements. If he is indeed confirmed as coach of the national team, in Argentina the decision will seem both controversial and inevitable. Here is what some participants in my weekly pick-up game in Buenos Aires had to say about his potential selection:
“I love Diego, and without having experienced Diego I wouldn’t love the national team as much. But, come on man…”
“Why lie? I knew he wasn’t prepared, that out of 23 matches as a coach he won three, that anyone else would have been better, except Simeone… I don’t care about the result, I believe that the greatest creator of magic should have an opportunity.”
“If you want to give him an opportunity, start him with the under-17s and then move him up.”
“He did a noble and honest job when he was a player. His work as coach will come from the gut, not from the head, and maybe that will be good for the team.”
“Well now, what is the transitive property that means a good player has to be a good coach?”
“Yes, we Argentines have a great confusion with past ‘glory’ (Perón! Perón!).”
“Actually I’d rather see Maradona as president than as coach.”
“Enough beatifying Maradona. My mother is the person I love the most in the world, but that’s no reason to make her coach of the national team or president of the republic.”
“If it goes badly for Maradona, we will have entered – as a society – a dilemma which, if not insoluble, will at least be an intolerable stigma for a long time. How can you hate the one you love?”
“I have officially lost all hope that someday Argentina will be a better country than Uganda. If people who drank milk every day before they were one year old think this way, we’re really in for it.”
“I just bought the Trinidad and Tobago jersey! Come on, Trinidad, we’re going to the World Cup!”The discussion then broke down into an argument about whether soccer was the most forceful embodiment of all society’s awfulness, or whether it was a game in which 22 people kicked a ball around.
