Maradona – A man under pressure

There is a team playing at this World Cup with so much talent on hand you would expect them to be odds-on favourites, but they go into the tournament with Argentina World cup betting odds struggling to push for a semi-final berth.

That team is Argentina, a team graced by the likes of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Diego Milito and Angel di Maria to name but a few, but also coached by a man whose credentials appear to be, well let’s be honest, lacking.

Diego Armando Maradona; the man with the Hand of God, the man who has more drug busts against his name than the rest of the tournament combined and the man charged with taking Argentina to a fifth World Cup final.

Maradona’s coaching resume is nothing short of confused, as he took over running La Albiceleste back in 2008 with little in the way of experience and went very close to missing out on the trip to South Africa completely.

Argentina’s run to the finals was a shambles, including a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Bolivia, which equalled the country’s worst margin of defeat, but victories in their final two pressure-packed games secured a place.

Maradona’s reaction to qualification, belly-flopping through a deluge, will go down as one of the moments to remember in his glittering career, but the post-match reaction showed the temper of a man who will be taking charge at his first major World tournament.

And it is his strange way of selecting a team that could well be Argentina’s downfall as the tournament progresses and the opponents get tougher. England Football world cup 2010 expectations are high, but those of Argentina will be even higher. So there is much pressure.

Maradona seems to have no idea what his best line-up is, what tactic to use and whether he can fit all the players he wants on the pitch at the same time. Just recently he said he would be happy to play with a back-four of four centre-backs, and has also said that he could see a time when all of his six main attacking options are on the field at the same time. The words of a madman, quite clearly!

Not getting to the quarter-finals would be disaster for Argentina, and quite possibly mark the end of Maradona’s days in charge – then again, for all the fans back in his homeland, that might just be a good thing for the future of a team with so many assets.