Argentina legend and World Cup winner in 1986 Diego Maradona is poised for his first competitive international match with Argentina today when his side take on Venezuela.
Argentina are currently third in their South American qualifying group – trailing Paraguay by seven points.
Maradona has overseen two friendly wins against Scotland and France since taking charge last year and is in such demand that the Estadio Monumental is expected to be at capacity. His plans have not been helped by veteran playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme’s decision that he will never turn out for a Maradona-coached Argentina side.
Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez is also enjoying the new Maradona era. “You get goosebumps every time Diego talks to you. We’re very happy with the national team set-up and I’m sure Argentina are going to do very well,” said the industrious forward. Maradona will have an illustrious array of talent to choose from on Saturday including Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero whose links to the coach are very close – his future wife is Maradona’s daughter.
