We´re on right path, says Maradona

Diego Maradona celebrated his first victory as coach at a World Cup finals, but dismissed as premature talk of him emulating Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as a player and a manager.

Maradona’s Argentina saw off Nigeria 1-0 in their opening Group B clash and with Lionel Messi looking in fine touch, the South Americans showed enough to highlight their credentials as potential champions.

“I’m not going to compare myself to Beckenbauer. We are very different,” said Maradona of a man who skippered Germany to the 1974 World Cup as a player and then coached them to the 1990 title.

“We have won our first match and we are on the right road.”

Maradona admitted he was pleased with Messi’s performance.

“I want him to be always on the ball. It really pleases me to see that,” he said. “Football would not be beautiful if you couldn’t see Messi do crazy things.”

Maradona said he had been moved by the welcome he had received from Argentine fans in the Ellis Park Stadium, many of whom had been far from impressed by his handling of the team’s qualifying campaign which lurched from one crisis to another.

“There was a lot of emotion when we saw all of the Argentine fans and I thank them for their support,” he said.

“It’s a new feeling when you are coach. You have to make quick decisions and at the World Cup it’s like Formula One.”