There’s a Palestine national football team, but there’s no Palestine nation. Maybe there never will be. The recent rumors of Diego Maradona possibly becoming their head coach for the upcoming Asian Cup shows just how low one of the greatest footballers of all-time has sunk to.
The politics surrounding the Middle East don’t really matter in this particular case, although Maradona, never shy of voicing his opinion or simply saying things to make him seem popular in the eyes of those he seeks affection from, won’t be able to escape things that are way over his head.
The Palestinian media isn’t exactly the most trustworthy by any standard, especially when it comes to reporting on the serious stuff, but maybe they don’t lie about sports. From there stems the report of Maradona being close to reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Football Association.
Maradona has made comments in support of his future employers cause, saying that he is the number one fan of the Palestinian people, respects them and sympathizes with them.
If Maradona takes the job, he’ll be the first to coach the side in the Asian Cup. The team qualified to the competition after beating the Philippines in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup in Maldives in late May. They’ve been drawn to play with Japan, Iraq and Jordan in the group stage, with the 2015 tournament being held in Australia.
Maradona has been managing on and off since 1994. Textil Mandiyú in Argentina, Racing Club in Argentina, the Argentina national team and most recently, Al-Wasl from the UAE.