Diego hails bright new era

George Burley's record as Scotland manager now reads one win in seven games but this clash with Argentina was only ever going to be a sideshow to the main attraction.

Diego Maradona's first game in charge of Argentina ensured a media circus in the build-up with an ongoing war of words with Terry Butcher only stoking the fires.

Scotland supporters hold him the highest esteem because he knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup with his controversial 'Hand of God' goal so 32,492 punters weren't too despondent when Maxi Rodriguez gave the visitors an early lead, which they held onto.

The outspoken Maradona was at his most effusive in the post-match press conference as he lauded his side's efforts. "Argentina had 25 brilliant minutes at the beginning and couldn't put away more chances. It was a totally fair result," he said after arresting a run of only one win in their previous eight games.

"We gave the ball away later on but Scotland were unable to profit from that. We could have had the ball more and won by more. The match with Chile was a bad experience that is now behind us," added Maradona in reference to a 1-0 defeat in Santiago in a World Cup qualifier last month that sparked former coach Alfio Basile's resignation.

"It was easy to overcome the mini-crisis of the Chile match which had been a breaking point for all of us. We put a lot of work into that, looking for the reasons why the team had not been able to win for such a long time. We managed to take away the team's fear of losing.

"We have men who want to get out of this deep rut the national side has got stuck in, and I'm very proud for having chosen this route. I found men. I found a great team. The last few days mean that I can assure all Argentines that these footballers are going to give their lives in every match. They're going to do everything to make the team better. I found men, ahead of football players.

"I'm not bothered about the win, but I wanted them to give everything on the pitch, to soak their shirts with sweat, to play for the people. They're wearing the sky-blue-and-white, and it seemed like they had another shirt of a different colour in the previous matches."

Maradona's first competitive match in charge is against Venezuela next year as they bid to keep their Wolrd Cup 2010 campaign on track. However, he still found time to pass on a few words of advice to Scotland as they prepare for a crucnh Group 9 fixture against Holland next time out.

"Scotland are a fine side, they have good players but we had a different level of skill," he added. "They have a chance (of reaching the World Cup finals) but if they want to do that, then they will have to raise their game. It will be difficult."