Maradona reverses course, says he’ll stay with Mexico’s Dorados

Weeks after musing publicly about quitting as coach of Dorados de Sinaloa, Diego Maradona now says he’s committed to staying with the Mexican second-division side.

On April 6, the Argentine legend said that he felt he should leave the club because - he claimed - match officials were making calls against Dorados due to his presence.

But following the Dorados’ victory Thursday night over Sonora in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie, Maradona sounded a different note.

“I have to talk with Jorge Alberto Hank, the team owner, because I have ideas for the next season with Dorados. When I come to Culiacan I will be able to outline my plans because I am attached to Dorados and, above everything, I’m in it to the death with my players, who never fail,” he said.

The coach said he was satisfied with the outcome in the 1-0 win against Cimarrones de Sonora, while criticizing the tactics of opposing manager Isaac Morales.

“We had the ball, but we didn’t know how to manage it. They (Sonora) didn’t want to play, they came just to show up - with respect to the colleague, who does what he can,” the man who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup said.

“Though they made the match difficult for us, thanks to the goal by Amaury Escoto we could open the scoring and we go to the second leg with an advantage that means a lot,” Maradona said.

At the same time, he warned against overconfidence ahead of the second leg, which Dorados will play as the away side.

“It would be exaggerated to say that we are already passing to the next round without having played. It would be lacking in respect to my colleague and to the Sonora players. We will be playing to qualify as we did in the first leg,” the 58-year-old coach said.

Maradona said he was optimistic about the future with Dorados in light of the success the team has had in correcting the errors of last season.

The squad is also stronger thanks to new additions, he said.

“We have alternatives. Last year we lacked having a starter and a substitute for each position. Now we’ve acquired footballers who fill holes that we couldn’t last year,” the Argentine said, “Now we have options.”

Maradona, who took charge of Dorados last September when the team was in the bottom half of the table, presided over a turnaround that brought the side to the final, where they lost to San Luis.

The objective for 2019 is to qualify for a another shot at winning promotion to the first division.