Diego Maradona puts boot into his critics with foul-mouthed rant puts boot into his critcis

Tom Collomosse
15 Oct 2009

Diego Maradona launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against his critics after Argentina finally booked their place at the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Uruguay.

The former national captain has come in for fierce criticism for his disjointed handling of the team's qualification campaign, which has seen him field more than 70 players.

But last night's win, courtesy of Mario Bolatti's goal, secured fourth place from the South American qualifying zone and the final automatic berth for South Africa.

At the post-match press conference, Maradona seized the moment to attack his critics and at one point grabbed his genitals in reference to a lurid comment he made.

Maradona said: “This win goes to all Argentineans, except the journalists. They treated me like dirt, but we qualified with honour. They will now have to accept this. I dedicate this to all of the Argentinean people and my family, but one sector does not deserve it because they treated me like garbage.”

Maradona was incensed by newspaper reports of a rift between himself and team manager Carlos Bilardo.

He said: “They invented that I was fighting with Bilardo. They gave wrong information. If you want to exchange information, to give it before you know the facts, the problem is yours.”

Although Maradona lost his cool Argentina produced an assured, intelligent performance for the first time during his two-year reign. Defensively they were sound and Bolatti's strike gave them a deserved victory against a Uruguay side, who were reduced to 10 men when Martin Caceres was shown a second yellow card with six minutes remaining.

Yet despite reaching the finals, many questions remain unanswered. How will the coaching team bring the best from Lionel Messi, who looked a shadow of the player who dominates matches for Barcelona?

Will top-class players like Juan Roman Riquelme and Walter Samuel be brought back into the squad? And, most pertinently of all, will Maradona still be manager when Argentina play their first World Cup match in eight months' time?

Even though Argentina remain a team without an identity — Maradona still appears unaware of his strongest XI — the principal contenders for the title in South Africa will be feeling less
confident than they would have been had the two-time winners failed to qualify.

If Maradona is still at the helm, Argentina's build-up to the tournament is likely to be as chaotic as their qualifying games were. But it would be foolish to dismiss their chances, especially given the number of talented players they can call on for the tournament.

Costa Rica face a play-off, against Uruguay, after conceding a goal five minutes into injury time in a 2-2 draw with the United States. The result allowed Honduras, who won 1-0 in El Salvador, to take the third automatic CONCACAF spot for South Africa behind the US and Mexico.

Costa Rica coach Rene Simoes said: “My players are in the dumps. This was a shock for them. Everything was going fine up until the last minute. The game just ended and it's just very sad.”

Along with Argentina, Portugal have been a thorn in England's side in major tournaments and their 4-0 win over Malta last night ensured Carlos
Queiroz's team will qualify for South Africa if they can negotiate a two-legged play-off next month.