SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Argentina coach Diego Maradona confirms midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron is out of South Korea game

Record ID: 1519001

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Argentina coach Diego Maradona confirms midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron is out of South Korea game
  • Date: 17th June 2010
  • Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 16, 2010) (REUTERS) FIFA SIGN MEDIA DIEGO MARADONA ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA COACH DIEGO MARADONA SAYING: "It was difficult to make the decision to leave (Juan) Sebastian (Veron) out because Sebastian wants to play, I know that no one wants to miss a World Cup match. But also there is the problem of risk, that the injury can be aggravated, and that the World Cupfor him. I don't want the World Cup to end for him, I need him." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA COACH DIEGO MARADONA, WHEN ASKED WHETHER HE WOULD GREET SOUTH KOREA COACH HUH JUNG-MOO WHO PLAYED AGAINST HIMAT THE 1986 WORLD CUP, SAYING: "Of course I am going to greet him. It is always good to greet the other coach." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA COACH DIEGO MARADONA SAYING: "With all the respect in the world, you do not have a Messi. South Korea is based on a collectively strong block. They are very fast, they have a good team, they are respectable, but we are going to win that match." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINA COACH DIEGO MARADONA SAYING: "If we are going to watch a show where we want to see stars, they can't be mistreated. The referees need to be tougher. If Korea mistreats Messi or Tevez, they will need to pull out the yellow card and on the second one out of there and done." MARADONA LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2010 03:18
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA6R4HL53N71CPQXNXMDBMJBHSE
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Argentina coach Diego Maradona confirms midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron will sit out the second round Group B match against South Korea where he will face his old foe South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo.
    Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron will miss Argentina's World Cup Group B match against South Korea at Johannesburg's Soccer City on Thursday (June 17) with a minor leg muscle injury, coach Diego Maradona said on Wednesday (June 16).
    Maradona, who confirmed an otherwise unchanged team, said he did not want to run the risk of Veron aggravating his right calf muscle strain and losing the player for the rest of the tournament.
    "It was difficult to make the decision to leave (Juan) Sebastian (Veron) out because Sebastian wants to play, I know that no one wants to miss a World Cup match. But also there is the problem of risk, that the injury can be aggravated, and that the World Cupfor him. I don't want the World Cup to end for him, I need him," he said.
    Maradona will see a familiar foe in the opposing dugout on Thursday. South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo was the man assigned to stop Maradona when the countries met in their opening match of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, a game long-remembered in Buenos Aires for the Koreans' strong-arm tactics against their skipper.
    "Of course I am going to greet him. It is always good to greet the other coach," Maradona said when asked if he would greet Huh.
    Maradona was confident his team of stars including FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi would beat South Korea.
    "With all the respect in the world, you do not have a Messi. South Korea is based on a collectively strong block. They are very fast, they have a good team, they are respectable, but we are going to win that match," told a Korean journalist who asked which South Korean player could be compared to Messi.
    South Korea has said they would defend strongly against the Argentina's strikers. Maradona called on referees to be strict on fouling.
    "If we are going to watch a show where we want to see stars, they can't be mistreated. The referees need to be tougher. If Korea mistreats Messi or Tevez, they will need to pull out the yellow card and the second one out of there and done," he said.
    Argentina and South Korea, who have only played each other once since their encounter in 1986, go into Thursday's match buoyed by victory in their opening games last Saturday (June 12) with the Argentines beating Nigeria 1-0 and the South Koreans overcoming Greece 2-0.
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