Mascherano - New Argentina Captain

Liverpool midfielder to captain his country

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has agreed to become Argentina's captain, despite initial reservations over Diego Maradona's offer.

Upon his appointment as coach of the national side, Maradona toured several European countries last week to meet several of his leading players - including the likes of Mascherano and Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez.

Argentina's form in World Cup qualifying has been patchy at best and Maradona has been quick to assess those at his disposal. One of his first decisions has been to hand Mascherano the captain's armband from current skipper Javier Zanetti.

Mascherano was slow to take up the offer after conceding he had doubts over whether he was ready for the role, but it does now look as though Maradona has proved convincing.

"I've convinced him," Maradona told Radio La Red. "I explained to him what I thought about him and told him what I thought he could give the team.

"He can transmit much of what he does in the centre of the pitch - we're not asking him to be a leader immediately."

Congrats Monster Masch, I'm sure you'll make a great captain, you deserve it..

Deserved, though Maradona probably should have waited until Zanetti retired, who has been an exemplary professional.

we saying the end of zanetti as an argentina regular, these two games could be the last games for him.

ballacks poor men

what a joke

He should show more respect for Zanetti.

I get the feeling Maradona is making his decisions based on emotions rather than logic.

youre right

when you have players like riquelme or zanetti

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:He should show more respect for Zanetti.

I get the feeling Maradona is making his decisions based on emotions rather than logic.

He is a Liverpool didn't you know

On Zanetti. I actually thought he had retired

As I always refer to him as, he's a Rolls Royce of a player

Still... I think Masch will make a fantastic captain in the long run.

Always believed once Gerrard and Carra retire the captaincy will go to either Masch or Reina

No doubt he is the most qualified for the captaincy, the guy has been playing for our senior national squad longer than for first division clubs. Plus he is a lion in the field and very respected by the rest of the players.

Still, as you ppl say, a bit sad for Zanetti. Maradona is probably the only man who could have taken the captaincy from him...

Every alternate coach in Argentina seems to take away the captaincy from Zanetti, its kinda sad.... Masch looks like a good choice for future captain, but this is a bit of a lack of respect for Zanetti.... But JZ is a thorough pro, he will take it in his stride.

I do hope (a bit selfishly) that Zanetti retires from International football soon... he can't keep going like this at this age, its already a miracle that he still plays 50-60 games for club and country every year. If he retires, it may elongate his Inter career by a couple of seasons... I am not ready to see an Inter without Zanetti, it will be tough to take.

When Zanetti retires, it would probably be the hardest retirement for me to take in my life so far as a football fan. And I guess thats true for most Inter fans.