A new adventure of Diego Maradona came to an end. This time as coach, a facet in which he fails to achieve regularity or, by distance, the remarkable flight he had as a player. "Maradona stopped working today. He is no longer the gymnastics technician," confirmed the president of Gymnastics and Fencing of La Plata, Gabriel Pellegrino .

Maradona led eight games: he lost five and won three. First he fell to Racing Club (1-2), Workshops (1-2) and River Plate (0-2). Then he beat Godoy Cruz (4-2), lost to Unión (0-1), beat Newelll's (4-0), was overtaken by Estudiantes (0-1) and defeated Aldosivi (3-0).

The end of the relationship between which for many is the best footballer of all time and the oldest club in Argentina is not surprising. It was expected, perhaps, that it lasted a few more games, but it was an agreement doomed to failure, because Gymnastics is far behind in the fight not to descend to the second division of Argentine football. And the three victories in eight games directed over three months did not modify the panorama excessively, although it is true that Maradona gave the "poor" team of La Plata, always in the shadow of the powerful and successful Students, some of the that was lacking: goal.

The political situation in the club served as a starting table for the world champion of Mexico 86. Maradona had been demanding a list of unity in the next elections, but that was not the case. "He was there to add, not to divide, he told us," said Pellegrino, who will not continue as a manager and could not convince the opposition to join the ruling party. "Pellegrino brought me, and if he doesn't follow, neither do I." is the phrase that the Argentine media attributed to Maradona when he learned that the president was leaving the post. Nothing new: Maradona, blood like the tifosi of Napoli who still loves him, has already left his coach position at Newell's Old Boys, Racing Club and the Argentine national team due to comparable situations. And it is not new that Maradona's loves are as intense as his hatreds when someone loses his favor, and they can speak from Carlos Bilardo to Juan Sebastián Verón, through his former representative, Guillermo Coppola, or the mother of his two daughters Older, Claudia.

And now that?

Maradona's brief step as a Racing coach came after the doping penalty at the United States World Cup. When Juan de Stéfano , the president who had taken him, lost the elections, Maradona slammed the door. More explosive was even his rugged experience as a coach of the national team: Germany crushed his players 4-0 in the quarterfinals of South Africa 2010, and despite that Julio Grondona offered to remain in office. Maradona left alleging fidelity to his field assistant, Alejandro Mancuso, who was told by AFA that he would not follow. A short time later, Maradona would call his friend Mancuso a traitor and a mercenary.

What is Maradona's future at 59? Complex: he is quarreled with his elder daughters, whom he publicly threatened to disinherit, and his state of health is worrisome. He has trouble walking and talking, his image is light years away from that of the portentous player recorded in the memory of millions and millions. The consolation for gymnastics fans before the threat that was threatening was to see how one of the great names in history joined their own, not without leaving an impact image on the road, the triumph against Newell's, his former team in Rosario . Maradona directed sitting on a real throne next to the band and was beaten by Gymnastics as a visitor, the peak of a dream that was not only such, but lasted for a nap.

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