Batista Wants Argentina Job

Julio Grondona, the president of the Argentine Football Association, admitted that he was surprised when Alfio Basile notified him of his decision to resign, because it is rare for an Argentine coach to resign before the end of his contract.

"He called me and told me that he wanted to resign. It is something that normally doesn't happen, only once has a coach left before time (Marcelo Bielsa). It saddens me, but life goes on," he stated.

"In these last few hours things have been said that might hurt one, maybe they were said without bad intentions, but they end up hurting. And this maybe made him make the decision," he added.

Finally, Grondona was asked when the search will begin for a new coach, but the president refused to answer the question and left. The main candidates for the position are Miguel Angel Russo, Sergio Batista and Diego Simeone, in that exact order.

Meanwhile, Batista, the coach who guided Argentina to the Olympic Games gold medal earlier in the year, admitted that he would "like" to coach the senior team: "Who wouldn't like to (coach Argentina)," he said.

Batista is one of the candidates to take over from Basile, while the others are Russo and Simeone. Russo is currently in charge of San Lorenzo, the Argentine league leaders, while Simeone led River Plate to the Argentine Clausura Championship last season.

For now, Batista will be Argentina's interim coach, and he will take charge of the team when they face Scotland in a friendly match in November.

Gregory Sica