GLASGOW: Diego Maradona said he felt "proud" after his first match as coach of Argentina ended in a 1-0 friendly win over Scotland at Hampden Park here Wednesday.
Reflecting on Wednesday's match Maradona said he hoped his players could banish the memories of their poor start to their World Cup qualifying campaign after claiming a morale-boosting victory.
New Argentina coach Diego Maradona smiles on his debut at Wednesday's friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow. Reuters"I am a very proud manager tonight. It was a great experience and the lads made me feel very relaxed throughout," Maradona said.
"We have been in a bit of a mini-crisis but the players are men and showed they were men out there and they made me proud," added Maradona who, as a teenager, scored his first international goal at Hampden in a 3-1 win over Scotland in 1979.
"What really encouraged me was there were great performances out there which gave me hope and heart for the future."
And the midfield maestro said as he took to the bench for the first time his thoughts has been with his daughter Giannina after she suffered problems with her pregnancy earlier in the week.
"I had been thinking of my daughter and her baby. My thoughts are obviously with my daughter. She was happy for me to be head of the Argentina side tonight and that is why I was here.
"The lads made things easy for me and gave me great support to work through a difficult time and I would like to thank them.
"I can assure the people of Argentina these players will give everything for the shirt and won't leave anything behind on the field."
In good humor
The soccer great also found time for one more dig at his old England adversary Terry Butcher, now Scotland's assistant manager, who has made no secret of his bitterness towards Maradona for the 'Hand of God' goal which helped Argentina beat England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup.
Earlier in the week former center-half Butcher said he could not forgive Maradona for his opening goal in eventual champions Argentina's 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal win 22 years ago.
Maradona punched the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and further infuriated England afterwards by claiming the goal had been scored by the "Hand of God".
Barely five minutes after his controversial opener, Maradona dribbled past half the England team to score a superb solo goal.
Asked if he had the chance to speak with Butcher after Wednesday's match, a mock-puzzled Maradona replied: "Who is Butcher? I am asking you who is Butcher?
"I greeted the manager of Scotland (George Burley) and you are asking me about Butcher.
"Since all the bad news about my daughter this has been the first time I have been able to laugh."
Maxi Rodriguez's eighth minute goal, the result of a slick passing move, was all that separated the two teams although Argentina, a class above their opponents, should have increased their lead.
"I thought in the first 25 minutes we were brilliant. We played some excellent football and scored the goal," Maradona said.
"Unfortunately we weren't able to convert any of the other chances we made but we kept the ball pretty much throughout the whole of the game."
Burley added this match was what Scotland needed ahead of their World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands in Amsterdam in March.
"We were playing against one of the best teams in the world and Holland are also a top-10 team.
"It was good for our players to play against Carlos Tevez and other top names just as it was good for me when I played against Diego here in 1979."
Source: China Daily/ Agencies
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