Maradona: “I’m keeping it up”

Diego Maradona, national coach, said at a news conference he did not think of resigning and that he is not afraid of the criticism that will abound after the defeat against Paraguay.

“I do my job, I have my team and I’m going to go ahead,” said Maradona, who looked depressed but composed.

He said the players were understandably “down in the dumps” over the defeat, but just like any player would after losing a match.

“Criticism doesn’t upset me. While there is blood in my veins I’ll fight for Argentina’s qualification.”

“Paraguay played better in the first half and defended very well in the second. We should have taken more advantages of Valdez and Cabañas.” The 10 asked not to blame Messi: ”He was being constantly guarded, the paraguayans and Martino knew very well about Messi’s skills. Every time he turned around he had two or three players guarding him.”

“We’re not out of the World Cup yet, we still have some chance,” said Diego, adding “Nobody died when we went to the playoff with Australia, so nobody is going to die if we go now.”

“I wouldn’t have imagined to be like this today, I thought we’d be much better off. This is our reality and we have to face it. We have a chance and we cling to that.”

“When when we qualify, all the current critics will turn around.” “Don’t forget that for the ’86 World Cup everybody also thought we’d be out.”