Diego Maradona has been appointed coach of Mexican second division team Dorados, the club said on its website on Thursday.
The club put up a short video on their social media channels with the messages ‘Welcome Diego’, and ‘Make it a 10’, the Argentina great’s shirt number as a player.
Although Dorados gave no further details, Mexican newspapers said the Argentine soccer legend had been hired to take over from Francisco Gamez.
Dorados, who are based in Sinaloa state in northwest Mexico, 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.
The 1986 World Cup winner is considered one of the greatest players ever after a career that peaked in 1986 when he captained Argentina to their second and last World Cup title.
But drug-addiction, overeating, and alcoholism put a sharp end to an otherwise magnificent career and in 2000 he almost died following a cocaine overdose.
The 57-year-old previously had short stints coaching clubs in Argentina and the United Arab Emirates but his longest spell in charge was with Argentina, which he led at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The former Barcelona and Napoli forward will be presented by Dorados this weekend and will debut as the coach on September 15 when the club take on Cafetaleros de Tapachula.
This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago
