Maradona Offers to Coach Argentina for Free

Maradona Offers to Coach Argentina for Free

The legendary Diego Maradona has offered to coach the Argentina national team for free in the wake of their underwhelming showing at the 2018 World Cup.

After scraping past the group stages, Argentina were sent packing from the Mundial with a 3-4 loss to France in Kazan Saturday.

With head coach Jorge Sampaoli under intense criticism for his poor handling of the team and curious selection, Maradona, appearing on his “Hand of God” television show on Venezuelan TV, made the offer, saying it was painful to see the current state of the national team.

“I would return to leading the national team and I would do it for free, I wouldn’t ask for anything in return,”said the 57-year-who coached Argentina for two years from 2008-10.

“Hopefully God will give me the strength to return to the bench.”

Maradona’s World Cup coaching stint in 2010 ended in devastating 4-0 hammering by Germany in the quarter-finals in South Africa.

But he added, “I’m 57, watching my country, which was beaten by a team that isn’t one of the best in the world — it really hurts to see everything that we’ve built destroyed so easily.”