PRETORIA — The World Cup proved that Diego Maradona is no coaching genius. But nor was he the clown that some expected.
True, there were times when it wasn't possible to observe the Argentine coach without humming the theme tune to Benny Hill. Picture, for example, the Argentine training session where Maradona pretended to beat up a member of his staff and theatrically acted as a target for his players to shoot a hail of balls at. He came out of it furiously rubbing the back of his head. Ho-ho, what a jester!
But as Argentina's victories piled up, there seemed to be method in Maradona's madness. No other team had Argentina's swashbuckling flair. With Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez slotting in goals and world player of the year Lionel Messi supplying inspiration, passes and even leadership on the field it was possible to ignore the holes in Maradona's defense and midfield and not second-guess his decision to leave defender Javier Zanetti and midfielder Esteban Cambiasso at home. Maradona's strategy, if it can be called that, was to outscore not shut out opponents. "Permanently on the attack" is how he lovingly described Argentina's style of play.