Dubai: Following his departure from Fujairah on Friday after failing to secure automatic promotion to the Arabian Gulf League, questions are again being asked of Diego Maradona’s credentials as a coach. Here we take a look at the legendary 1986 World Cup winning striker’s five managerial jobs and break down his win rate in each role.
Mandiyu de Corrientes
Finished bottom of the Torneo Clausura (Closing Tournament) in Argentina’s Primera Division in his first managerial role, winning one, drawing five and losing six in his 12 games in charge, for a lowly win record of just eight per cent. They avoided relegation thanks to finishing 13th in the Torneo Apertura (Opening Tournament) before Diego had arrived, but his arrival set off a downward spiral of events that eventually saw them relegated to the Primera B Nacional the following season before they went bust.
Racing Club
Despite failing to impress with Mandiyu, Diego landed on his feet with a top-five team in Racing Club de Avellaneda the following year. They finished sixth in the Primera Division Torneo Clausura (Closing Tournament), which was an improvement on their Torneo Apertura (Opening Tournament) form that same season where they finished 12th, but none of this was thanks to Diego, who didn’t complete the Clausura. In his 11 games in charge won just two, drawing six and losing five, for an overall percentage win rate of 18 per cent.
Argentina
Won 10 out of eleven friendlies losing one, but narrowly avoided embarrassment by finishing fourth out of four automatic World Cup qualifying slots from South America, with four wins and four losses from eight. Defeats came against Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay with the worst being a 6-1 battering away to Bolivia. At the 2010 World Cup, they went on to top their group with wins over Nigeria, South Korea and Greece before beating Mexico in the Last 16 but it was a 4-0 defeat to Germany in the quarters that ended Diego’s reign. With 18 wins from a total 24 he took a 75 per cent win record.
Al Wasl
Finished eighth in the Arabian Gulf League after seven wins, five draws and 10 losses from 22 games. The Cheetahs also got to the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup, after six wins and five losses, before getting knocked-out by Al Ahli. Al Wahda knocked them out of the President’s Cup quarters, where they got a win and a loss. They also lost the final of the GCC Champions League against Bahrain’s Al Muharraq on penalties despite leading 3-1 after the first leg. Throughout their GCC campaign they totalled seven wins and two losses. This gave Diego an overall 21 wins from 44 for a win rate of 47 per cent.
Fujairah
Eleven wins and eleven draws in the UAE’s second tier saw the Wolves finish third, just missing out on automatic promotion to the Arabian Gulf League on the last day of the season after a 1-1 draw at home to Khor Fakkan. They are still in the play-offs however. In the President’s Cup, they also topped their preliminary group with three wins, one draw and one defeat, going on to beat Hatta in the Last 16 before defeat to Al Ain in the quarter-final. In total from 29 games played, Diego left with 15 wins giving him a win rate of 51 per cent.
