Diego Maradona

ANALYSIS: Maradona again before the challenge of rising from ashes

Diego MaradonaBuenos Aires  - Diego Maradona is an expert in extremes, and he got another dose of them as Argentina coach in recent days, with glory in Saturday's thrashing over Venezuela and disaster in Wednesday's historic and humiliating 6-1 loss to Bolivia.

The current situation raised uncomfortable questions as to national football legend Maradona's ability to lead Argentina in the South American qualifiers towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

EXTRA: Maradona says thrashing is "inexplicable"

Argentina coach Diego Maradona La Paz  - Argentina coach Diego Maradona admitted Wednesday that his men were overpowered in every aspect of the game they lost 6-1 to Bolivia in La Paz, in a phenomenon that he described as "inexplicable."

"The whole of Bolivia played very well," he admitted. "They played good football."

As for his own men, Maradona was critical and said they did nothing of what they had planned ahead of the match.

"Argentina surprised me. I was surprised by the fact that they created so many chances," he said.

Maradona: "It's a pleasure to see Messi like this"

Maradona: "It's a pleasure to see Messi like this" Buenos Aires  - Argentina coach Diego Maradona on Saturday praised Lionel Messi for his performance in the 4-0 win over Venezuela in Buenos Aires.

"Seeing Messi like this everyday is a pleasure. We should all leave the stadium, pay for another ticket and go in again," Maradona said.

Messi - who for the first time wore the number 10 Argentina jersey that was once worn by Maradona himself - was the man of the match in the resounding win. The Barcelona striker scored a goal and was decisively involved in two others.

Maradona still owing millions of euros to Italy's revenue

Maradona still owing millions of euros to Italy's revenue Rome - Argentina football icon Diego Maradona has paid a minimal part of the large tax payment he owes the Italian state from the years he spent playing with Napoli, the Association of Italian taxpayers (Contribuenti. it) reported on Saturday.

"The Italian revenue has been unable to levy from Maradona more than 0.10 per cent (of what he owes)," said Contribuenti. it president Vittorio Carlomagno as he criticized how taxes are collected in Italy.

Maradona says Pele lost his virginity to a man

Maradona says Pele lost his virginity to a manLondon, March 28 : Legendary footballer Diego Maradona has launched a scathing attack on Pele, saying that the latter lost his virginity to a man.

His gay jibe was a reaction to the Brazilian football star's statement that Maradona was "a bad example" to youngsters for having taken drugs.

"What do you want me to say? He made his debut with a bloke," the Mirror quoted Maradona as saying, when asked about Pele's jibe.

Fans rally to watch Maradona's first game as Argentina coach

Fans rally to watch Maradona's first game as Argentina coach Buenos Aires  - Thousands of people gathered Friday to buy tickets for Argentina's game against Venezuela in Buenos Aires, which was set to be Argentine football legend Diego Maradona's first official match as national team coach.

The queue was more than 700 metres long to get one of the 13,000 "popular" tickets for the Monumental stadium, the cheapest option available at around 10 dollars each, to watch the historic game on site.

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