I was a little surprise when I heard from the news that Diego "the hand of God" Maradona is going to become Argentina's national team coach. Though Maradona is one of the best player of all time, credential wise, I certainly do not see him as a worthy coach. Certainly, for a big footballing nation like Argentina, there are some other candidates with better credential. But I can see where this appointment comes in.
Argentina, despite boasting some of the best talents in the world in recent years, had failed to win any significant honours, with only the Olympic Football Gold Medal to show. In the past two edition of the World Cup, they didn't progress to the latter stages of the competition, and were even knocked out in the 1st round in Korea-Japan 2002. In Copa America, they again failed to win the competition, losing to a understrength, junior Brazil team in the final.
Something is not right, something is amiss that stopped them from winning honors, despite having a team filled with talents. Perhaps, that something, they now reckoned, is inspiration and the "magic touch". And Maradona certainly fit this criteria. He is the inspiration, and almost single-handedly lead Argentina to World Cup victory, with his "hand of god" knocked England off the competition they eventually win.
Now, their Football Association is hoping that Maradona can reproduced this midas touch, inspiring and leading the national team to the top of the world again. The effect already can be seen. Key players, and also the whole nation is feeling excited about Maradona being the national team coach. If he can emulate the great Franz Beckenbaur's achievements, he can certainly have his name sealed in the history of football, and had all his negative issue swept aside.
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