Maradona sets the rhythm for first tango in Glasgow

It is all very well creating a circus but what of the act? The hype and hysteria surrounding Diego Maradona's arrival in Scotland was stripped away last night and the immense challenge of leading Argentina into another golden era laid bare. It was a tentative first step for a team with designs on a third World Cup in 2010, a giant leap for a manager who has a legion of admirers but is confronting a world full of doubters, too.

Maradona had arrived at Hampden Park as only he could, standing beside a drummer at the front of the Argentina team coach, banging the beat on the windows as he conducted his players in song. It was how he conducted them as a team that mattered, of course, and the clenched-fist salute that greeted the final whistle signalled a personal battle won. Argentina will rest a little easier today knowing there may be substance in their icon's surprise appointment after all.

"I have dedicated myself 100% this week to lifting the morale of the players," said Maradona. "We needed to get out of a bad run. We reached a low point with the defeat against Chile but it wasn't a case of blaming other people but working out why. The national association didn't sit back, they appointed a new coach and I have succeeded in removing the fear of defeat from the players. It has been a long time since we won and expressed ourselves on the pitch like that. Tonight we played for the blue and white and for the people of Argentina."

Before last night Maradona had presided over only three wins in a 23-game managerial career but Hampden has always been an inviting arena for England's nemesis. "Thank you for 1986" proclaimed one banner in the Tartan Army section and, while there was no handshake with Terry Butcher - "Who is Butcher?" he asked, mischievously - victory gave Maradona sufficient ammunition against his detractors - for now. This was never an occasion for the 48-year-old to offer a conclusive answer in the debate over whether great players make great managers.

As always in a legendary career, and sadly in this instance, drama remained a close companion. Argentina's head coach had given serious consideration to walking away from his first game in international management, at the scene of his first international goal in 1979, due to complications with his daughter's pregnancy. Sergio Agüero, Argentina's brilliant young striker and the partner of Giannina, returned home late on Tuesday night and only the instruction of his 18-year-old daughter prevented Maradona accompanying the Atlético Madrid star to the Spanish capital.

"Tonight I was thinking of my daughter Giannina and her baby," he said, prior to making that journey to a Madrid hospital late last night. "The lads have been a great support at a very difficult time for me. They wore the shirt with great pride. My daughter was happy for me to be the head of the Argentina national team and that is why I am here."

Maradona had promised "a feast of football" for the Scottish crowd by way of a thank-you for the undying affection he won in these parts by punching England out of the 1986 World Cup. He did not promise, however, to be a manager obsessed with recreating past attacking glories at the expense of his defence. Without a Maradona on the field, and with Argentina having won only one of their last eight games, he cannot afford to be.

The performance of the Argentina defence here highlighted an obvious flaw and improvement will be required if Maradona's men are to withstand more serious threats en route to South Africa. Fortunately the head coach has enviable talent elsewhere. Javier Mascherano, the reluctant new captain in place of Javier Zanetti, underpinned an otherwise encouraging display.

Maradona began with a traditional 4-4-2 in name but with Newcastle's Jonás Gutiérrez and Maxi Rodríguez of Atlético Madrid given the freedom to support their forwards from the flanks, Argentina resembled a 4-2-4 during an opening when George Burley's team rarely saw the ball.

"For the first 25 minutes we were excellent but unfortunately after scoring our first goal we couldn't capitalise on any more chances," Maradona said. "But we were always in control of the ball and it was a deserved victory."

The first goal of his reign was true to the architect's grand design, an immaculate one-touch move involving Zanetti, Carlos Tevez, Rodríguez, Tevez again, Gutiérrez and finally Rodríguez again bringing the visiting bench to its feet. Only Maradona stayed sitting. The man who as a spectator cheered his way through the 2006 World Cup in Germany sat with his arms folded before rising to nod his approval. The journey has begun.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer