Maradona arrives in Madrid

MADRID: New Argentina coach Diego Maradona and general manager Carlos Bilardo arrived in Madrid on Wednesday to watch Real Madrid in a Champions League match.

Maradona, officially named coach of the national side on Tuesday by Argentinian football federation president Julio Grondona, was interested, no doubt, in checking out Argentinian duo Fernando Gago and Gabriel Heinze in Madrid's home match against Juventus.

"Very good," were the only words Maradona said at Barajas airport when asked about how his time had been since being named coach.

Maradona and Bilardo were also expected to meet up with Atletico Madrid's Argentinian players Sergio Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez.

Argentina will be playing Scotland in a friendly on November 19, then against France on February 11 before their next World Cup qualifier at home to Venezuela on March 28.

Argentina are third in the 10-team qualifying group and are on course to qualify yet they only have one victory from their last seven matches -- when they beat Uruguay 2-1 on October 11.

Several days after the Uruguay victory, Argentina lost to Chile for the first time in 35 years..



via