- Title: GEORGIA: Soccer superstar Diego Maradona arrives in Tbilisi
- Date: 23rd October 2008
- Summary: TBILISI, GEORGIA (OCTOBER 22, 2008) (REUTERS) AT NIGHT: AIRPORT TERMINAL DIEGO MARADONA ARRIVES VARIOUS OF ARRIVAL MARADONA LIGHTS A CIGAR MARADONA SMOKING CIGAR MARADONA WALKS TO BUS DOOR VARIOUS OF MARADONA AUTOGRAPHING T SHIRTS, FLAGS, FOOTBALLS BUS/SECURITY
- Embargoed: 7th November 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Georgia
- Country: Georgia
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAETAE3XV0FU97W7GNLADH0JVZO
- Story Text: Soccer (Football) superstar Diego Maradona arrived in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Wednesday (October 22) ahead of a Showbol soccer match on Friday featuring ex-international players from Georgia and Argentina.
Maradona refused to answer questions from journalists, but autographed t-shirts, flags and soccer balls for fans while smoking a cigar.
Maradona said in a television interview on Friday that he would be delighted to accept the job as coach of the national side should he be offered it following the resignation of Alfio Basile after Argentina's World Cup qualifying defeat in Chile last week.
Maradona had two brief stints as coach of Deportivo Mandiyu and then Racing Club in the mid-1990s.
Carlos Bianchi, Sergio Batista and Miguel Angel Russo remain the favourites to take over as manager while Carlos Bilardo, coach in 1986 and 1990, has cropped up as a rank outsider. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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