Only the players can save the Argentinean team (Yahoo)

Scarcely a month from its debut in the World’s Cup the feeling that the Argentinean team transmits is that only its players, many of them considered among the best of the planet, can save it from the terrible chaos in the organization they are going through, specially from the moment that Diego Maradona took the position of coach at the final of 2008.

It is strange that asking any directive of the Argentinean Federation (AFA) on the final steps of the team on the way to South Africa, the response is a capital interrogative and that until now, a world potency as Argentina goes looking for some rival for a friendly match to replace the one that fall, as it seems, that should be played in the United Arabian Emirates vs a team from this country.

That match that was fixed for May 29, and was the last step before the trip to Pretoria, to install themselves there, has been always surrounded by mystery and confusion, so much so that everything started when Víctor Vicente Bravo, in the name of a strange company Dalport Investments, came to Maradona during the days in which the Argentinean team was lodged in Madrid to play a friendly match vs Spain (that lost 2-1 in the stadium Vicente Calderón) and offered him to organize this match of May 29.

Some versions indicate that Maradona was interested for that match and that he even would take off a part of the cachet for himself, though others completely deny it, but the confusion was such that the president of AFA and first vice-president of FIFA, Julio Grondona, convoked the ex wife of the star, that on the other hand is his representative, Claudia Villafañe, to reproach her for this contact because the term has expired for the deposit of a down payment near 500.000 Dollars, they did no appear.

In front of the representative’s deny, showing not to know the matter and in view of the lack of other replies, the AFA started to valuate the need of looking for other possible rivals for the Argentinean team, specially that there are left very few days for the World Championship and the match in Arabian Emirates meant a save of much money that the FIFA pays the teams that participate in the World Championships for the removal.

However, the chaos that surrounds the Argentinean team is much higher. On one side, it is intended to disguise with a party of farewell a mediocre friendly match vs the weak Canada in the stadium Monumental of Núñez in Buenos Aires for May 24, to which Maradona acceded to play with his best team due to an expressed request of the government because it falls within the festivities of the Bicentennial of the country being its exact date on the next day.

And not only this: the hard declarations of Maradona in the context of another strange match played in the workers city of Cutral Có, in Neuquén Province (west of the country, in Patagonia), on a stadium not too full and with a supposed benefit for the harmed of Haití and to play with the very weak team of that country and with the team conformed by players of the local league (most of them will not be at the World Championship), angered much Grondona confronting him with the coach since the first days in which the latter took charge of the Argentinean team.

Maradona criticize Grondona strongly for the fall of the match in Arabian Emirates and added that “for once” he accepted that in a charter of the team traveled some forty fans characterized on the suggestion of the AFA’s president.

There have not passed many hours and the oldest son of Grondona, Humberto, in charge of the youth department of the AFA, and generally a hard declaratory, appeared to defend his father and started polemics with Maradona, as he is doing since the latter did not accept him to form part of the technical crew for the World Championship because his father also vetoed the ex defender world champions of 1986, Oscar Ruggeri, to work with him as an assistant.

Humberto Grondona, who had carried had a gray duty in Peruvian, Mexican and Brazilian clubs considers that Maradona owes him to be designed as coach of the Argentinean team as when Alfio Basile renounced end of 2008, the AFA’s president decided to offer this position to the coach preferred by people Carlos Bianchi, but Humberto as well as his brother Julio (president of Arsenal) convinced their father to go back with his idea and convoke Maradona. The latter, with the pass of the days, noted that if Ruggeri was not accepted as assistant, then neither Humberto Grondona could enter in the technical group.

In such state of war against everybody, still fails the manager Carlos Bilardo, confronted since one year and a half with Grondona because he pretended to replace him for the president position of the AFA and he did not obtain the imagined backing and then confronted with Maradona, once befriended with the directive, not backing his ex conducted Ruggeri to be incorporated as assistant.

The summit of this situation happened in the last match of eliminatories when the Argentinean team was despaired defending the triumph by 0-1 vs Uruguay in Montevideo and Bilardo, hooded and almost in incognito gave indications to the players from the line along the game field and Maradona was giving opposed indications and shouted to his players not to accept what Bilardo was saying.

Less to forty days to the World Championship it is not known whether the Argentinean team will play another friendly match against which one, where and when.

The feeling is that only the big players that it has will be able to save this chaotic team of Argentina that seems to have more enemies within themselves than in the eventual rivals.