Maradona starts as coach with 1-0 win at Scotland

By STUART CONDIE GLASGOW, Scotland
Soccer Summaries, AP - 2 months ago

Diego Maradona made his debut as Argentina's coach Wednesday, his team beating Scotland 1-0 in an exhibition game in the stadium where he scored the first goal of his extraordinary international career.

Maxi Rodriguez scored in the eighth minute at Hampden Park for an Argentine team that showed only flashes of the skill that brought Maradona such fame.

Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986, made a mostly quiet coaching debut. There was little of the frantic gesticulating and wild cheerleading that characterized his time as a fan of the national team.

Aside from Maxi's goal, there was little evidence of the entertaining performance Maradona promised Scottish fans for their warm welcome. The midfielder's low shot past goalkeeper Allan McGregor completed a slick move and gave a hint of the passing game that could evolve under Maradona.

Argentina did show a competitive edge it will need to build on if it hopes to improve its fourth-place standing in South America's World Cup qualifying group.

In 1979, Maradona scored his first international goal in a 3-1 win over Scotland. He was greeted by fans in his return to Hampden Park with cheers and an anti-English song in his honor.

Maradona spent most of the game huddled on the bench, his diminutive figure exaggerated by the outsized coat insulating him from the cold Scottish night, and he barely celebrated the first goal of his tenure. He made two brief forays to the sideline in the first half, apparently to instruct his defense.

Maradona had concerns apart from soccer. He had considered leaving the team before his coaching debut because of his daughter's pregnancy complications in Spain. Maradona said Wednesday she asked him to remain with the team in Glasgow.

Maradona said daughter Giannina is hospitalized but fine, and he will travel to see her. She is six months pregnant and having the boy with Argentina forward Sergio Aguero, who plays for Atletico Madrid and left the team Tuesday to be with her.