Daily Times

Argentine legend Diego Maradona has been hired by Mexican second-division football club Dorados to replace departing coach Francisco Ramirez Gamez, the club announced Thursday.

“We’ve hired him to come work with us. We want him to stay the rest of this season and next,” said Jorgealberto Hank Inzunza, president of the club based in Culiacan, in the western state of Sinaloa.

“In my conversations with him he’s been very excited to come coach here. Honestly, it was easier to convince him than I thought,” he said in an interview with ESPN, shortly after the club confirmed rumours of Maradona’s hiring with a video posted online.

Dorados fired Gamez earlier on Thursday after a poor start to the season that brought three points out of a possible 15. They are 13th in the 15-team league, joint bottom of the table.

Maradona, 57, is considered one of the greatest players of all time after a career that peaked in 1986 when he captained Argentina to their second and last World Cup title.

He has had short stints coaching clubs in Argentina and the United Arab Emirates but his longest spell in charge was with Argentina, who he led at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.