Lurching from one defeat to another, the legendary Diego Maradona is in danger of becoming the first coach in three decades to fail to get Argentina to the World Cup.
After losing again Saturday, Maradona's squad is way behind Brazil, Chile and Paraguay and hanging on to the fourth automatic qualifying spot from South America with three more rounds to go.
There's mounting evidence one of the game's greatest players -- some say the greatest -- is no coach.
Maradona is revered as a great player by the stars now under his command, but he doesn't get results, and that's what coaching is all about.
Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Brazil came after a 2-0 loss to Ecuador, and Argentine fans still shudder when recalling a 6-1 loss to Bolivia in April.
Maradona is now preparing for another huge test, a visit to Paraguay tomorrow.
If his team loses to third-place Paraguay and both Colombia and Ecuador win, then Argentina will drop to sixth in the 10-nation group with two games to go. That would mean it might even miss out on a playoff spot which goes to the fifth-place team.
Even the most die-hard Argentina soccer fans might not forgive him for that.
With the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero up front and veterans Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastian Veron and Javier Mascherano in the midfield in front of a rock-solid defence, a good coach can't really fail to get this team to the World Cup.
Maradona's contract with Argentina's football federation runs until the end of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On current form, neither he nor his team will be there.
RED DEVILS STRIKE BACK
Manchester United has threatened Le Havre with legal action if the French club continues to claim financial inducements were paid to the family of a teenager signed by the Premier League champs.
According to Le Havre president Jean-Pierre Louvel, Paul Pogba's parents were offered cash and a house by the Red Devils to lure the 16-year-old midfielder to Old Trafford in July.
Manchester United said it will rigorously defend any complaint by Le Havre to FIFA.
