The World Cup is a big stage, with stars shining on the field and stars off the field.

Maradona was a great player, a skilled and unruly player, and he remained in the news after leaving the pitch.

After leaving the pitch, the Argentine king picked up the whip. From October 1994 to February 1995, Maradona coached the A-1 team Mandiu with his old teammate Fern without a coaching certificate, with 1 win, 6 draws and 5 losses.

From February 1995 to May 1995, Maradona continued to partner with Forren and coached the A-League side Athletic, with 2 wins, 6 draws and 3 defeats.

The Argentine king's early coaching was a failure, and he became disheartened and left the coaching position. In the 2010 World Cup South American region, Argentina's results were worrying, and the dressing room often broke negative news, so a credible coach was needed to integrate the team.

Maradona regained the reins in this context and became Argentina's coach. In November 2008, Maradona became the head coach of the Argentine national team, ushering in a new era for the team.

After leading the team to a three-game winning streak, Argentina entered a trough in the World Cup qualifiers and was once on the verge of not qualifying. In the end, in the crucial final two rounds, Argentina defeated Peru and Uruguay successively to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa.

The number one star in this Argentine team is undoubtedly Messi, who is widely expected to have a good performance in the World Cup, and Argentina's results depend on his performance. And captain Mascherano and others will give Messi support.

The root cause of the huge variables in today's Argentine national team lies in Maradona. In the selection of the lineup. There is a great deal of arbitrariness and uncertainty in the old horses, and Argentina had as many as 50 players on the pitch during the World Cup qualifiers, many of whom were called up during Maradona's tenure.

Among the coaches of the World Cup in South Africa, although Maradona is not very experienced, it cannot prevent him from becoming the most famous coach. Of course, this is mainly because he has the aura of a ball king on him.

Under the leadership of Maradona, with a superstar like Messi, how far can Argentina go?

At half past one in the afternoon of the 12th, the match of Group B began, and the first to appear were South Korea and Greece. They will compete at the Mandela Bay Stadium.

Greece almost opened the scoring in the third minute. Cho Yong-hyung cleared Salamas' cross from the left to clear the ball. Calagonnis takes a corner. Torosidis shoots wide from close range in front of the six-yard box. Cheduri's long-range shot was then blocked.

South Korea take the lead in the seventh minute!

Lee Young-pyo won a free-kick near the corner flag on the left, Ji Chengyong crossed into the box, Charlie Steas rose to the top, and the unguarded Lee Jung-so fired into the empty net from close range.

The Greeks had a single means of attack. Their crosses were all cleared by the Koreans. South Korea, on the other hand, also frequently used tactical fouls to curb the Greeks' attacking speed. Forty-first minute. Li Qinglong passes. Park Joo-young shot high with his left foot from 25 meters.

In the 44th minute, Ventra crossed and Yerkas missed a header. Zheng Chenglong almost saved in the face of the sun. In the end, South Korea led Greece 1-0 at half-time.

In the second half, Rehhagel replaced Karagonis, who was completely limited in the first half, with Pachazoglou. Che Duri and Li Qinglong's shots in front of the penalty area were blocked one after another.

South Korea expanded the score in the 52nd minute, Ventra made a mistake in stopping the ball, and captain Park Ji-sung burst into the penalty area with a one-handed push to score from 10 meters in the penalty area, and he scored in three consecutive World Cups.

With two goals from Lee Jung-so and Park Ji-sung, South Korea won 2-0. This is the first time that South Korea have won against a European team in the World Cup finals from home soil, while Greece continue to be embarrassed by 0 points and 0 goals in the World Cup.

At 4 p.m. on the 12th, Johannesburg, Ellis Park Stadium, the first group stage of Group B began. The two sides are Argentina and African powerhouse Nigeria.

Maradona has been in the World Cup for the first time since 1994, but this time as a coach. Since losing to Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup, Argentina have won three subsequent matches against African teams, including two against Nigeria.

Argentina recently beat Haiti and Canada in their recent warm-up matches, with Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez scoring a combined 83 goals last season. Nigeria recently drew with Saudi Arabia and Colombia before winning 3-1 against North Korea.

Argentina are one of the favourites to win the title, and their appearance has attracted a lot of media and the world's attention. People want to see if Argentina's level has improved under Maradona's leadership.

As soon as the match began, Argentina launched a ferocious attack on Nigeria.

In the fourth minute, Messi burst into the left side of the penalty area and crossed, and Higuain unexpectedly missed the ball from the edge of the small penalty area.

In the sixth minute, Higuain passed Messi after breaking the ball in front, and the Barcelona striker's shot from inside the penalty area was held out by Nyama. Messi missed his first World Cup goal.

Veron takes a corner from the right and Heinze's header from 11 meters goes into the top left corner!

Argentina leads 1-0!

They got off to a fantastic start!

Maradona was excited like a child, reproducing the World Cup as a coach, and he got off to a good start.

In the ensuing game, Argentina launched a tidal wave of attacks, threatening the Nigerian goal on several occasions, and they dominated the entire game.

Nigerian goalkeeper Nyama is undoubtedly the best player in Africa. Against Messi, Higuain, Tevez and Milito, Argentina with the best strikers in the world, Nyama made six wonderful saves.

In the end, Argentina got off to a good start with a 1-0 win over Nigeria. Maradona also won his first World Cup as a manager.

The next day, the Argentine Independent newspaper published an article praising Maradona:

On that hot summer 16 years ago, Maradona, who was already 34 years old, participated in the World Cup for the fourth time as a player. That was also the last time Maradona participated in the World Cup as a player. 16 years later. Maradona played in the World Cup for the first time as a head coach.

It was very rare for Maradona to wear a formal attire to a match. Those who know him well know that this wild and uninhibited football genius prefers to wear sportswear.

However, time has flown by and Maradona has accepted a new role as head coach of the Argentine national team. Maradona announced to the world in such a way that he had never done before: World Cup, Maradona is back!

Back in the 1994 World Cup in the United States 16 years ago, Maradona took one of the most talented teams to the World Cup, Argentina. That year, Argentina faced Greece and Nigeria in the group stage. Perhaps, this is fate. 16 years later. Maradona's Argentina are once again in a group with these two teams.

In the 94 World Cup, Argentina defeated Greece 4-0 in the first game, Maradona scored 1 goal, and Batistuta scored a hat trick. The second scene. Argentina came back from 1-2 down to 1 goal. Maradona showed the best of the ball in that game. Two assists for Caniggia's goal.

When Argentine fans all over the world were expecting Maradona to lead Caniggia, Batistuta and others to the podium of the World Cup winners, the bad news came. Maradona was found to have taken a banned drug.

What then awaits the Argentine team is Maradona's ban. It laid the groundwork for Argentina's subsequent rout. The battle with Nigeria became the swan song of Maradona's playing days in the World Cup.

Sixteen years later, Maradona is no longer young, he is no longer a player, but he is still a leader, still a god in the hearts of the players and fans.

Maradona's explosive personality has not changed, and his heart to chase victory has not changed, and Maradona was very annoyed when Higuain shot wide and Enyama saved Messi's shots in succession. And when Heinze scored with a header, Maradona was happy like a child.

Over the past 16 years, Maradona has endured bans, injuries, and even nearly died in the hospital, but Maradona survived, and he returned to the pitch and back to the World Cup.

16 years of career, but it feels like a world away. Maradona's love for football could not be the same. For the World Cup, Maradona is willing to pay a qiē, even if it is, as he said, naked under the obelisk.

Sixteen years ago, many fans in front of the TV were just children, and Maradona was a "god" to us. In the world of football, he was the beginning of an era of icons, and in this era when the older generation of idols were gradually retiring from the stage, Maradona brought Messi back to the stage with love.

Perhaps Maradona will still be criticized for various things, but it is undeniable that after Maradona returned to the World Cup, he brought back victory and confidence.

Now, don't think about what the future holds for Argentina and whether Maradona's fifth World Cup campaign will end in success. When Maradona raised his arms and shouted for victory after the game, Maradona, who fought for victory, lived for football, and fought to the death for the World Cup, returned.

……

On the 12th, the match of Group C also started at the same time, and the England team, which had high hopes, appeared.

At eight o'clock in the evening, at the Rustenburg Real Baffouken Stadium, the match between England and the United States begins.

As the game began, there was a shocking image: just 212 seconds into the game, Glen Johnson threw a touchline ball from the right and Frank Lampard poked a cross that Rooney missed to Husky. At the top of the Heskey penalty area, he knocked his back to Gerrard, who cut inside on the right side.

Gerrard stopped the ball with his right foot, and before Clarke made a tackle, the instep of his foot bounced into the bottom right corner from 12 yards out!

England 1-0!

In less than four minutes of the opening period, England took a 1-0 lead thanks to Girard's lightning goal, which made the England fans at the scene very excited.

However, England fans didn't rejoice for long.

In the 40th minute of the first half, Dempsey broke through the middle and turned around to get rid of Gerrard, and his left-footed volley from 24 meters in front of the goal was not much of a threat.

Butter hands!

Fatal mistake!

The U.S. equalized!

In the end, the two sides drew 1-1, and England unfortunately missed the chance to win the first game.

On the 13th, at half past one o'clock at noon, the second game of Group C began. North African Foxes Algeria and Slovenia face off at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.

The game was rather dull, and the fans in the stands played with crowds. The dullness broke in the 34th minute of the second half, when Slovenia attacked, Jokic crossed low from the left, Koren stopped the ball and turned and fired a right-footed shot into the far corner from 20 yards in front of goal.

Algerian goalkeeper Saudi held the ball sideways with both hands, but the ball bounced in front of him and slipped past the post and into the net.

1 to 0!

Slovenia won the match with this goal and took the top spot in the group. (To be continued......)