Maradona Looks For Renewed Pride In Argentina

I just have to throw the team onto the pitch and the change in attitude is what is going to make this national team change.

Diego Maradona, making the biggest comeback of his rollercoaster career since the 1994 World Cup, was set to take his first training session as Argentina coach at Celtic Park on Monday.

Imbuing his protégés with a sense of what it means to wear the Argentina shirt was his priority as he faced his debut against Scotland in a friendly at Hampden Park on Wednesday with minimal coaching experience under his belt.

Looking back at his matches for Argentina, particularly when he inspired them to World Cup victory in 1986, Maradona said: "Today (the players) can have a guide who will tell them what the shirt is about.

"I hope (the story) finishes in the same way (in South Africa in 2010). For now we're taking it step by step," he told Argentine reporters on Sunday night following his arrival in Glasgow from Buenos Aires.

Unhappy with the attitude he saw in the team in their last match under former coach Alfio Basile, a 1-0 defeat in a World Cup qualifier away to Chile, Maradona said: "I haven't got the working time to ask for anything more.

"I just have to throw the team onto the pitch and the change in attitude is what is going to make this national team change."

Maradona, whose comeback at the 1994 World Cup in the United States ended prematurely after a second suspension in three years for drug abuse, had brief, unsuccessful spells as a club coach a decade ago.

His appointment to succeed Basile, who resigned after the Chile defeat, was met with more apprehension than joy but his diehard fans believe he can inspire Argentina to a third World Cup victory.

Looking beyond Wednesday's friendly, Maradona underlined the importance to the side of Lionel Messi and Juan Roman Riquelme despite their absence in Glasgow.

"Messi will do a bit of everything. I liked his last match as a passer (of the ball), not always wanting to finish the move himself, carrying the move and making someone else finish. That's the Messi I want," he said.

"The (number) 10? I'll surely give it to Roman, for all he represents, for the team's style, the dead ball (situations), for everything he shows in every match he plays."