After Nigeria Defeat, Maradona Wants To Return As Argentina Coach

Diego Maradona has stated his desire to return as coach of Argentina after the La Albiceleste were beaten 4-2 by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in an international friendly on Tuesday in Krasnodar, Russia.‎

The legendary footballer on Wednesday, criticised the poor performance of the Argentine team and appealed for another chance at managing the national side.

“I am angry because they have thrown away our prestige, but it’s not the fault of the lads, I want to come back!” 57-year-old Maradona posted on Instagram.

The 57-year-old took the country to the 2010 World Cup, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 4-0 to Germany.

The iconic star, who led his country to World Cup glory in 1986, also published a comparative table on his Instagram account showing that his period as a coach of the team had the highest efficiency among all the managers that led Argentina since the 1970s.

In the graph, Maradona claimed he achieved 75 percent efficiency, with 18 victories and six defeats in 24 matches during his tenure as Argentina coach, including the World Cup in South Africa, a tournament in which his team was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The former Napoli player wrote: “Who wins more?? Let’s draw our conclusions, I’m mad because they give away our prestige, but the players are not the ones to blame, I WANT TO RETURN!!!”

It would be recalled that Maradona was in charge when Argentina defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Current Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli has had an inconsistent start to his tenure since taking charge in June, winning four of his first eight games, but only one of four competitive fixtures.