The 50-year-old Argentine, who has been out of coaching
since he led Argentina to the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, visited the club's
training facility Saturday. He did not speak to reporters at the club
headquarters nor when he was taking in a shopping trip to the Dubai Mall.
Ashraf Ahmad Mohammad, the club's chief executive officer,
said he was “happy” with the negotiations thus far but expects it will take
several more days to reach an agreement. The club had said it might have an
announcement Sunday but nothing was forthcoming.
Al Wasl is fourth in the domestic league and has been
looking for a coach since firing Sergio Farias in March.
It would definitely get a controversial and colorful figure
should the club sign the 1986 World Cup winner, but not someone with extensive
managerial experience. Before taking the reins of Argentina in 2008, he had
only coached Deportivo Mandiyu in 1994 and Racing Club in 1995, and in both
cases left before his contract was up.
Under Maradona, Argentina's results were mixed and the team
slumped to two of its worst ever losses — a 6-1 hammering by Bolivia in 2010
World Cup qualifying and a 4-0 quarterfinal defeat by Germany at the tournament.
Since
losing the Argentina job last year, Maradona has been linked to several
coaching vacancies including Iran's national team and several English clubs
including Blackburn and Fulham.
