Argentine Football Association chief, Julio Grondona, insisted on Friday that there is still a chance that former international star Diego Maradona will join the coaching squad of the national team.

"I have not lost the hope that he could join us and be given the appropriate seniority," said Grondona, speaking to local media just days after Argentina lost a friendly match 2-3 to England.

I would be "very rewarding to be able to say he is part of team as Germany does with Franz Beckenbauer, England does with Bobby Charlton and Brazil does with Edson Arantes Pele," Grondona said.

On Thursday, Maradona repeated his assertion of recent weeks that he did not want to join the team, adding that Jose Pekermann, the current coach, "deserves to be allowed to work in peace".

He spoke at the inauguration of a sports center in Qatar where Argentina recently won a friendly game 3-0.

Maradona confirmed that he would be in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, for which Argentina has qualified, but said his participation would not go beyond giving motivational speeches to the players.

Pekermann told a press conference on Friday that he had "developed a good deal in the training" of the 23 Argentine players who will take part in the World Cup, but added that fans would have to wait to see the final shape of the team.

He said that Argentina's defeat by England "makes us angry because we played a good game and were about to win, when at the last minute it became a painful defeat."

Source: Xinhua