Diego Maradona, arguably the best player of all time, is back on the world stage. Maradona returns to the World Cup, this time as Argentina's coach, for the first time since 1994.

As a player Maradona help lead Argentina to their second World Cup title. He will now try to lead them to their third, with the help of World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

Maradona took over the team after coach Alfio Basile quit during qualification. Maradona clashed with playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme early on, causing the fan favorite to walk out on the team. The team struggled at first with Maradona at the helm; a 6-1 thrashing by Bolivia didn't make the Argentinean FA look good in their decision to appoint Maradona the coach.

Argentina is entering its fifteenth World Cup, having won twice and have also claimed runner-up honors twice. They have not been past the quarter-finals since the 1990 tournament in Italy, where they finished second. 

Argentina was lucky to qualify for South Africa. They were able to avoid defeat away against Uruguay with a late goal in a match that could have easily gone the other way.

Argentina's pride and joy, Lionel Messi had a great season with Barcelona tallying 32 goals in 34 games and 9 assist and was named 2009 FIFA Player of the Year. Messi's success with Barcelona hasn't translated into success with the national team, however. Messi plays striker in a 4-4-2 as opposed to playing right forward in a 4-3-2-1.

Argentina's World Cup fate might rest on Maradona's willingness to accept advice. The former striker has never had any real experience coaching and the Argentineans have tried to help him. Carlos Bilardo, the winning coach from the 1986 World Cup was appointed to team manager, but Maradona refuses to take advice from his former coach. 

Coach-

Diego Maradona

Only time will tell if the stubbornness of former striker and national hero will hurt Argentina's chances in South Africa. Juan Roman Riquelme's presence in the midfield will surely be missed and Maradona has no one to blame for that but himself.

 

Key Players-

Lionel Messi

The Barcelona striker had only 4 goals in 18 appearances for the national team. South Africa will be a test for the FIFA World Player of the Year to see if he can translate his success with Barcelona to international glory.

Sergio Romero

Romero was between the pipes in 2007 when Argentina won the U-20 World Cup. We'll see if that experience along with his three appearances in qualifying will be enough to keep his projected starting spot.

Javier Mascherano 

Apparently Mascherano is Maradona's replacement for Riquelme. Maradona was quoted saying "my team is Mascherano and 10 more." The skipper appears to be high on Mascherano, yet the center mid hasn't quite been living up to the hype.

Gabriel Heinze 

The 29 year old defender will be a key member of the Argentineans defense. The former Manchester United back will be depended on by young keeper Sergio Romero.

2010 World Cup Schedule-

Group B:

Argentina vs. Nigeria, Johannesburg, South Africa, June 12th

Argentina vs. South Korea, Johannesburg, South Africa, June 17th

Argentina vs. Greece, Polokwane, South Africa, June 22nd

Next up:

Australia