Sparky’s Column

Maradona Dives into Pre-Season Training

Maradona has made an instant impact as Al Wasl coach. A video of him joining in a kick around and theatrically throwing himself to the ground gone viral, being viewed over 158,000 times, you can see the video for yourself here.

It's a coach having a bit of fun with his new players but it just shows how much media scrutiny Maradona is under. This is just the tip of the iceberg, clubs here are not used to dealing with the huge media attention that follows the games biggest stars. Abroad the big clubs are used to dealing with a prying press and have the methods to deal with it. Al Wasl will have never have seen anything like it before and will have to learn quickly so it does not become a circus which distracts the team.

The rest of the league seems quiet by comparison, most teams are abroad in their preparations for the new season. The Al Jazira staff left at home have a managerial merry-go-round to deal with. They lost out on Sabella when the Argentina job came calling and have taken Genk coach Franky Vercauteren as a replacement. The details have yet to be sorted out but the double winning coach may remain in Belgium a while longer. Genk has asked if he will remain to see the club through their two Champions League qualifiers before he departs.

A little corner of Australia could come to the UAE as Socceroos appear to be flavour of the month. Al Nasr have signed Mark Bresciano from Lazio and he may not be the first antipodean on these shores. Lucas Neil is rumoured to be signing for Champions Al Jazira, as is Harry Kewell. The latter has also been linked with Dubai based rivals Al Ahli. The beauty of an Australia player is that they can fill an Asian player slot with all the qualities of someone who has played in Europe's top leagues. All three players that have excelled in both Serie A and the English Premier League. You can add in that they have World Cup finals experience and it's simple to see why they are so attractive to clubs. The only surprising thing is that it has taken so long for clubs it is to reccognise there could be such rich pickings down under.

The best story I have seen this week is the news that football stamps could be on the way to an envelope near you. Christine Weber an Ajman based stamp designer is looking to produce special football editions. It would be great to see Maradona's face on a stamp and it's one way you could lick the opposition. I think with that very weak joke it is time for me to go. I will be back next week and hopefully further on in my comedy pre season preparations.