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‘No preparation at all’ – Maradona slams Argentina coach Sampaoli after Iceland draw
Argentinian football icon Diego Maradona has lambasted the team manager Jorge Sampaoli for the squad’s underwhelming performance in the World Cup opening game against Iceland, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
"If Argentina continues playing like that, Sampaoli may not return to Argentina,” Maradona said, according to El Comercio.
“It’s a shame, he failed to prepare the team for the game. Instead of making short passes, we continued to cross high balls knowing that the Icelanders are 1.90 m tall.”
"I do not blame the players. Lack of preparation is the only thing to blame for the result. There was no preparation at all. You can bring 25 coaches with you, but you need to work with players. It was obvious that Iceland had been better prepared for the game than Argentina and it makes me feel very sad,” he added.
The 1986 World Cup winner also expressed fears that now Argentina may struggle to qualify for the knock out stage having tenacious rivals from Nigeria and Croatia in the next two games.
"We may have problems in the next games because the Nigerians are well-experienced, they know how to counterattack and they know how to score. I hope our boys will improve their game," Maradona said.
Argentina face Croatia on June 21, before taking on Nigeria five days later, on June 26.