Maradona ‘will not coach Iran’

PTV – TEHRAN, Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will not probably accept steering Iran’s national team, a source close to him has said.

“It sounds crazy to me,” the source, who has known Maradona for more than 10 years, told Germany’s DPA on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

“We have to be very careful because people use Maradona to make newspaper headlines,” he added.

Rumors have swirled in recent months that Maradona is to take charge of the Iranian outfit.

“Diego wants something closer. The idea is to coach some team in Argentina, and then a country that is close or with a history, like those things people said about Portugal,” the source said. “He wants to be close to his family.”

Maradona coached Argentina in the 2010 World Cup, when the South Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals with a painful 4-0 defeat to Germany.

On July 27, the Argentine Football Association announced it was not extending Maradona’s contract beyond July 31.