Abu Dhabi: ‘Marhaba Maradona' banners could be up during tonight's Pro league game between former champions Al Wasl and champions-in-waiting Al Jazira.
The last time the Argentine genius saw his name up in the stands was when the German fans came prepared with the banner ‘Tschuss Maradona' (Bye Maradona) in South Africa. By the time the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal ended 4-0 in favour of Germany, they were all over in the stands.
Since being relieved of his job as coach of the Argentine national side, Maradona's link-up with Al Wasl is sure to add another milestone to UAE football.
Since UAE football went fully professional, there has not been much success at the continental level.
This was amply reflected when the three Pro-League clubs were eliminated much before the final rounds in the AFC Champions League while only Emirates Club, a First Division side, kept their gutsy campaign going until the final group match.
Maradona's signing as the Al Wasl manager is sure to create huge ripples in domestic football, which has seen the arrival of names like Fabio Cannavaro and David O'Leary (the now deposed coach of Al Ahli) at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season.
The Dubai side he will be guiding have been one of the giants of UAE football.
Al Ain's have a record of nine League titles, with Al Wasl in second position with seven.
Morale booster
With rival clubs in Abu Dhabi stealing a march over their Dubai counterparts, the move is sure to lift the morale of the clubs here — apart from driving the fans back.
While his skills on the pitch can never be argued, it will be a huge test of his temperament as a manager of a club in this region.
Even when Maradona was named manager of Argentina during the qualification for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, it was his reputation as a football icon which fetched him the job rather than his success as a coach or manager.
As manager of his country's World Cup team in 2010, Maradona took over a struggling squad which had just one win in seven games midway through the qualifiers.
Four wins and four losses in the qualifiers were followed by three consecutive wins in the group phase of the tournament, then a 3-1 win over Mexico before the Germans gutted Maradona's dream of completing the much-coveted double of winning the World Cup as player and then as a manager.
However, the world has seen what his presence does, even on the sidelines, and it is with this optimism that he will be welcomed to a region that has been creating a lot of footballing headlines of late.
