Maradona: The people are on our side

(GSM) – Argentina coach Diego Maradona believes he has plenty of public support at home even though he has been the target of fierce criticism in his country’s media.

Argentina stumbled through the qualification process with Maradona at the helm and at one point, it was feared his team might even miss out on the finals for the first time since 1970.

In the end, the Albicelesti managed to qualify for South Africa but Maradona received a lot of media criticism.

“Our goal is to become world champion. The people are on our side, supporting us,” said Maradona on a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s friendly match against Germany.

“We will leave the journalists behind us and that gives us great strength, something like what happened in Mexico when we finished first.”

Maradona also said that his 23-man squad for the World Cup is “80 per cent complete” with the remaining 20 per cent “to be decided when the time comes”.