Maradona wants Riquelme or Veron to 'coach'

Diego Maradona wants either Juan Roman Riquelme or Juan Sebastian Veron to be his on-field coach, according to an interview with the Argentine national-team manager on Radio La Red.

"Out of Riquelme and Veron, one of the two has to be a starter, to steer the team forward and give orders, to be the coach inside of the field," Maradona said.

Maradona, who asked Riquelme to take a vacation to rest ahead of a crucial year, praised Veron, stating that the Estudiantes de La Plata captain is one of "the best players in the world."

"We will have to find him a place, play with more midfielders or something," he said. "That's why we are here, to find places for these players who are guaranteed to give rivals lots of difficulty. I have a big problem here," he joked.

Maradona, who debuted as the coach of Los Albicelestes with a 1-0 victory over Scotland in Glasgow last month, wants his midfield to have the balance provided by Javier Mascherano and Fernando Gago."

"I'm not thinking about anything else, unless there are problems and I have to change something," stated the 48-year-old. "With them I can assemble a strong team both in an offensive and defensive aspect.".

Argentina's first match of 2009 will be a friendly match against France in February. Maradona will use the match to prepare his squad for the restart of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers the following month.