Former Argentina coach Diego Maradona accuses Carlos Bilardo of betraying him

Ex-Napoli star launches scathing attack on former employers...

29 Jul 2010 00:18:00

By Daniel Edwards

More On :  Argentina, Diego Armando Maradona
Diego Maradona - Argentina (Getty Images)
Diego Maradona finally broke his silence after being removed as coach of the Argentina national team and pointed the blame for his demise unequivocally at Carlos Bilardo.
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Dressed in a smart navy suit and with a freshly trimmed beard, Maradona looked calm and composed in front of reporters as he began reading a prepared statement which  turned on those perceived as responsible for tearing him away from La Seleccion.

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"Bilardo betrayed me," Diego insisted. "While we were still mourning after the Germany game he was working in the shadows to get rid of me.

"Whoever looks a little closer knows that the betrayal was lurking right around the corner from the team in South Africa."

Maradona also had strong words for AFA head Julio Grondona, whom he claimed "lied to me." And the little legend was outraged at the charade his two targets carried out when requesting a list of players for the upcoming friendly against the Republic of Ireland.

"It was all a trick, because Bilardo and 'Humbertito' had it all arranged," he added.

"In the dressing room, with players and witnesses all around, he said to me that I was going to continue... but he and Bilardo had already fired me then."

Diego then revealed the final straw emerged on Monday, when he met with Grondona to define his future.

"He said that if I wanted I could carry on, but without seven of my backroom staff," he continued.

"If he is telling me this then he was saying he didn't want me to carry on.

"I defend my people. And I am not going to change because I have values and a moral code, and these people do not."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
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