Argentina Hires Batista to Succeed Diego Maradona as National Soccer Coach
Six weeks after Diego Maradona said he would “kill” to return as Argentina coach, the country’s soccer association appointed Sergio Batista to the position on a permanent basis.
Batista, who took over as caretaker coach after Maradona’s contract wasn’t renewed in July, was hired until 2014, Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association, told reporters in Buenos Aires last night.
Batista, 47, guided Argentina to two wins and a defeat since Maradona, 50, departed following the team’s quarterfinal exit at the World Cup in South Africa. His first match as permanent coach will be Nov. 17 against Brazil in Doha, Qatar.
“This is a big responsibility,” Batista said in press conference comments posted on the AFA’s website. “I’m looking forward to carrying on the work we’ve been doing and working towards our aims.”
Batista and Maradona, who was voted player of the century in 2000 in a poll organized by soccer governing body FIFA, were teammates on the 1986 World Cup-winning squad in Mexico and also helped Argentina reached the final in Italy four years later.
Argentina was eliminated from this year’s tournament in a 4-1 loss to Germany, the country’s biggest World Cup defeat in 36 years.
Maradona resigned July 28 after declining to cut members of his coaching staff, saying he had been betrayed and lied to by Grondona and national team manager Carlos Bilardo. In a Sept. 24 television interview, Maradona said he “would kill” to coach Argentina again.
During Batista’s interim tenure, Argentina beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0, routed world champion Spain 4-1 and lost 1-0 in Japan.
Before taking over the senior team, Batista coached Argentina’s youth teams and guided the under-23 squad to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Aires at rorihuela@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net
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