Diego Maradona says he’s still uncertain about his starting XI less than two weeks before Argentina’s World Cup opener against Nigeria.
The Argentina coach held his first news conference in South Africa on Tuesday and said he would not know his first team until just days before the June 12 opener.
Among other things, Maradona is trying to find places for all of his talented forwards: Fifa player of the year Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Carlos Tevez of Manchester City, Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid and Diego Milito of Inter Milan.
“It will be just a few days before the (opening) game that I’ll know,” Maradona said, adding “I have 23 fierce competitors that are willing to leave it all on the pitch.”
Maradona said this group was in better shape than the 1986 team he led to the World Cup title. “In ’86 there were a lot of doubt about the side. The players we have now are at a much higher level than we were in ’86, and they understand things better than we did,” he said. — AFP