Diego Maradona
A hat trick from Vinicio Angulo helped get Diego Maradona’s managerial career in Mexico off to the perfect start on Monday as his new club Dorados beat Tapachula 4-1 in Culiacan.
Ecuadorian striker Vinicio Angulo struck in the 59th and 61st minutes and although Argentine Sebastian Ibars got a goal back for the visitors two minutes later, Angulo converted a penalty with a quarter of an hour remaining to put them 3-1 up.
Alonso Escoboza added a fourth for the home side in the 85th minute to cap a perfect night for the Argentine coach on his return to the sidelines.
Prior to Monday’s match, Maradona demanded privacy amid the media frenzy that surrounded his joining of the club and used his post-match news conference to turn the focus back to football.
“I’m not here to steal money from anyone. I came to work not to keep mouths shut,” he said. “Nobody knows what I’m doing during the week with my coaching staff so that’s why some voices are silent now.
“There is no Maradona effect. I knew that we will win when I saw them train with desire, with hunger, these guys are hungry for glory.
“When I met with the players after the game I told them that nothing has been achieved yet, they won a game and we have many others to win but with this attitude we are going to achieve it.”
Maradona, who is taking charge of his first club since leaving Gulf league side Al-Fujairah SC in April, surprised the football world when he signed with the Pacific coast team earlier this month.
The former Boca Juniors and Napoli striker has been feted in Culiacan, a sweltering city notorious for its drug cartels, and fans there hope he will help take the side back into Mexico’s first division.