Fujairah: Diego Maradona has begrudgingly implied that his Mauro Icardi-inspired rift with Edgardo Bauza is over after both Argentines became coaches in the UAE last week.
Bauza took charge of the UAE national team while Maradona joined second division Fujairah.
The duo join fellow Argentine and former Boca Juniors boss Rodolfo Arruabarrena in the UAE, who has just led Al Wasl to a second-place finish in the Arabian Gulf League.
“I have no comments about the coaches of Al Wasl or the UAE,” Maradona said in a barbed reference to Arruabarrena and Bauza at his unveiling as Fujairah coach on Sunday.
“I do not like to talk about other coaches. I talk to them all, and played alongside both, I played alongside Bauza at the 1990 World Cup, he was a good person, and that’s it.”
Earlier this year however, Maradona had said he would never speak to Bauza again after the then-Argentina boss flew to Italy to meet Inter Milan’s Icardi to discuss bringing the striker out of national team exile.
Icardi had been left out of the Argentina squad after having an alleged affair with, and later marrying, Wanda Nara, the wife of his fellow Argentine and former Sampdoria teammate Maxi Lopez.
Although Lopez has never played for the Argentina national team so far, he has many friends in the current set-up including Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano, who are rumoured to oppose playing alongside Icardi as a result of the alleged affair.
Lopez refused to shake Icardi’s hand over the betrayal before a match between Sampdoria and Inter back in 2014, in a fixture that became known as the ‘Wanda derby.’
Argentinian society has also waded in on the scandal, not least Maradona who ardently took Lopez’s side, and opposed Icardi’s recall, even going so far as to berate Bauza for even considering picking the player let alone meeting him when he was still in charge of Argentina earlier this year.
“I will not talk to Bauza anymore,” Maradona told Argentine newspaper Clarin in February. “It’s his [Icardi’s] life. I do not care, but for me he does not exist. There are things that are not done and are not forgiven.
“I want to see Bauza ask Messi if he wants to eat at Icardi’s house, or if Icardi can eat at the house of Messi, Kun [Sergio Aguero], or another national team player after what happened with Maxi Lopez.”
Bauza was sacked after just eight games in charge of Argentina in April leaving the Albiceleste fifth in their World Cup qualifying group one point off automatic qualification with four games to go.
Maradona said the reason for the country’s slump was down to poor youth development. “We are exporting much less players to Europe in comparison to other countries,” he said. “Unfortunately in Argentina people don’t take care of grass roots.
“From there, we will once again get talents similar to what we had in the past and once again export them to the world. Any team that doesn’t have grassroots is a team that won’t be able to play at the highest levels.”
