Sad Maradona considering future

Maradona, now 49, cut a dejected figure at the post-match news conference

Diego Maradona has admitted he is considering his future as Argentina coach after his side were brutally dumped out of the World Cup by Germany.

"I may leave tomorrow," he said after their 4-0 quarter-final defeat.

"I'll have to think carefully about it, and talk with my family and the players. There are many issues here."

Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 as a player, said that "whoever comes after me" must follow the team's attacking style.

But that commitment to going forward was easily nullified by Germany as the Europeans defended with complete commitment before breaking forward swiftly and effectively on the counter-attack.

We played badly and sometimes when you make mistakes you go home Carlos Tevez

Argentina striker Carlos Tevez admitted as much, and offered no excuses after a disjointed performance in Cape Town in which Fifa's world player of the year Lionel Messi was frequently reduced to collecting the ball from his centre-backs.

"There's nothing we can say about their win," said Tevez after Argentina suffered their worst World Cup defeat in 52 years.

"To lose like that is very painful. We played badly and sometimes when you make mistakes you go home."

The Manchester City striker added: "We knew it would be complicated and that they wouldn't let us attack.

"They did what we knew they were capable of doing. We knew they could be dangerous on set-pieces and on the counter-attack."

Maradona was derided in Argentina before the tournament for leading the team by instinct and emotion rather than paying attention to a tactical plan, or the opposition's strengths.

Much of that criticism was washed away with four straight wins in South Africa, but it may now rear its head after Germany easily exposed the individual rather than collective nature of his side's play.

"I'm as disappointed as all Argentines," he said. "To see my country lose a football match is very hard for someone who has worn the shirt."

When asked whether he was satisfied with the team's performance against Germany, Maradona added: "Are you joking?

"This is a country where you live and breathe football. I don't think that anybody will be happy when the team loses 4-0."

Highlights - Argentina 0-4 Germany

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