ERIC WEIL in BUENOS AIRES: A long-standing argument which continues through the coronavirus hiatus concerns the importance of a coach or team manager.

In South American countries and many other parts of the world, the coach is everything. If  the team win, he is a hero, but if  they lose too many games, he is dismissed and often replaced by a coach who had been fired by another club for the same reason.

However  Diego Maradona, still revered as the world´s best player in his era, is proving critics wrong.
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Taking over Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, in a hopeless position in the first division, he has moved them closer to possible salvation.
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Gimnasia were still due to be relegated when the championship was stopped because of Coronavirus with seven games to go, but they had a possibility of saving themselves as they had been gaining half the points in play.
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The players seemed so inspired on being coached by Maradona that they managed to pull out something extra.
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The championship is unlikely to be continued but, even if it were, Maradona’s Gimnasia were on the way to safety.
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