Argentina FA president Julio Grondona dreams of Barcelona's Pep Guardiola's appointment

The 80-year-old believes that the Spanish coach could would be the right man to guide the national team, while stating that the country is proud to have a player like Lionel Messi

12-Jan-2012 7:20:00 AM

By Luis Mira

More On :  Argentina, Barcelona, Pep Guardiola
grondona
grondona
Argentina FA president Julio Grondona has conceded he would be delighted to bring Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola to La Albiceleste.
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The 40-year-old took charge of Barca's first team in 2008 and has helped the Catalan giants win 13 trophies, including three La Liga titles and two Champions League crown since then.

Argentina have changed coaches twice since the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa as Sergio Batista took over from Diego Maradona before being replaced by Alejandro Sabella in the summer.

"If the Argentina FA had the financial possibility, Guardiola would be the coach of the national team," Grondona told Ona FM.

"It would be a dream to appoint him as coach."

Grondona then noted that he hopes Messi will help Argentina win the World Cup, but stressed that the 24-year-old's lack of international silverware does not raise questions about his talent.

"It would be very important that Messi won a World Cup with Argentina," he explained." But it is not necessary that he does it to be the best, considering all that he has won.


"There is no doubt that, although Argentina have not won a World Cup title [with Messi], we have won one of the best players in the world.

"We are proud of Messi, not the other way around."

Earlier on Wednesday, the three-time Ballon d'Or winner revealed he would like to play in his homeland before calling time on his career.

Starting in November and continuing through January, Goal.com is publishing exclusive extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated new book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. On Friday, the latest extract will take a closer look at the exciting emergence of Fifa Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi at Camp Nou: Don't miss it!

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