Maradona stays calm as Brazil tame Argentina

ARGENTINA boss Diego Maradona claimed he isn’t alarmed by his side’s precarious qualifying position after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to rivals Brazil at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario, a result for which he took full responsibility.

Maradona must now take his beleaguered squad to Paraguay for a meeting with Gerardo Martino’s ever-combative side with only two points separating them from Colombia and Ecuador in fifth and sixth respectively.

“I’m feeling composed. There’s no cause for alarm,” said a calm but clearly downcast Maradona in the wake of the 3-1 defeat. “It won’t be easy to go to Paraguay, but we’ll see what solutions we can find for our problems and try and take the three points. Anything can happen in football as today’s game showed. We had to beat Brazil and we lost. There’s no time for feeling sorry for yourself, though. You have to keep looking forward.”