Diego Maradona: It's Nice To Be Maradona

'El Pibe de Oro' spoke about his national team experiences thus far।

Diego Maradona, the coach of the Argentine national team, commented on several issues pertaining to his experiences during an exclusive two-hour interview with Ole.Since being appointed the new boss of Los Albicelestes Maradona has received heavy criticism, especially after the embarrassing 6-1 defeat at the hands of Bolivia. When asked whether it was easier to solely dedicate himself to playing football Maradona had no doubts about his answer."It was much easier being a player: I only thought about getting the ball and enjoying myself. Now I have to take control of around twenty-five players. There are things that complicate me. "I'll tell you one thing, guys: the other day there was a free kick in a training session and Messi took it. I moved to the side, the ball rebounded off the wall and it came to me...I take it on my left foot, it was so nice. The player came out of me. I said: I'll nail it. Someone would have noticed because my eyes opened."It is clear that Maradona has yet to adapt himself to being a coach, and he revealed his strengths and weaknesses to the press."I think the best I can give the players is all of my experience and I base myself on this. I am sure that if they see me well they will be well. That is my strength. It is a new experience for me. Some experiences have gone well and others not too well, but I always look at the players in the face. That is what I was taught by Flaco Menotti, Bilardo, Coco Basile and Miguel Angel Lopez."He continued: "What hurts me is that I couldn't count with Oscar Ruggeri by my side. He has more experience and maybe he could have given me a hand. Maybe we could have done a better job together. With Mancu and Lemme I get along really well and we do a good job. And of course the help of Bilardo. Everything I do I ask Bilardo first."Los Albicelestes have struggled a great deal in the World Cup qualifiers, and Maradona explained how he deals with the anxiety."Talking to the players. Knowing how Masche is. I speak a lot to Masche, I also speak a lot to Heinze. But it is hard to find Messi. It is easier to talk to Obama than to Lio [he joked]. But sometimes I find him. I speak to Kun, with Maxi. I kill the anxiety watching videos. I watch the matches we have played."Maradona also responded to declarations made by Brazil captain Lucio, who said he wants to eliminate Argentina from the World Cup when they clash in a decisive qualifier in September."He said it when he brought the Confederations Cup to Lula. We'll see if they can. We have four difficult matches left, but we have our minds set on the Brazilians. Brazil are the team we want to bring down."If Argentina don't claim maximum points against their arch-rivals they could well miss out on qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.