Sochi: Former Argentine great Diego Maradona has offered to coach his country for free, eight years after his last attempt ended in World Cup failure.
Maradona was asked Tuesday if he fancied another shot at the job – even though current coach Jorge Sampaoli has a contract until 2022. “Yes, and I would do it for free,” Maradona said on a Venezuelan TV show. “I wouldn’t ask for anything in return.”
The former Boca Juniors and Napoli player coached Argentina at the 2010 World Cup, where his team were beaten 0-4 by Germany at the quarterfinal stage. It incidentally was Lionel Messi’s first World Cup campaign.
Since then, the player who guided Argentina to their last World Cup win in 1986, has only coached two club sides in the UAE. However, Maradona asserted that he could turn things around for the Albiceleste if given the chance. “The players know me, respect me. They will definitely listen to what I say,” Maradona informed.
“People think I am happy but my heart is heavy,” Maradona said about Argentina’s elimination. “I feel really bad that everything we built with so much effort we destroyed so easily.”