Maradona hands captaincy to Mascherano

Newly-appointed Argentina coach Diego Maradona said Monday he had lined up Liverpool's midfield destroyer Javier Mascherano for the captaincy.

"I convinced him. While I am in charge I need him as captain," Maradona told La Red radio.

"He can transmit much of what he does in the centre of the pitch - we're not asking him to be a leader immediately," Maradona said as he prepares for his coaching debut at the helm of the 'albiceleste' away to Scotland in a November 19 friendly in Glasgow.

Current skipper is Inter Milan's Javier Zanetti.

Maradona last week toured several European countries to check on the form of a raft of top names including Mascherano and Barcelona's Leo Messi.

With their next World Cup qualifier, at home to Venezuela, not until on March 28, Maradona is hoping his surprise new broom will lift a side currently third in the 10-team South American qualifying group.

Four teams qualify for the finals in South Africa but their form has been patchy with just one victory from their last seven matches - when they beat Uruguay 2-1 on October 11.

They then lost to Chile for the first time in 35 years, prompting Alfio Basile to step down.

Maradona explained that he wanted to regalvanise the side - "but you can't change history from one day to the next." Looking back at his whistle-stop visit to Europe Maradona singled out Messi, Manchester United's Carlos Tevez and Mascherano, saying he had found them "motivated to the hilt."

BUENOS AIRES, Tuesday (AFP)