When it comes to Diego Maradona, people either love him or hate him. Some see him as one of the greatest footballers ever while others view him as little more than a thug. Rarely can an athlete arouse both of those emotions in the same supporter as Maradona did in Argentina’s World Cup game against England in 1986. In the space of 90 minutes he blatantly cheated by punching the ball into the net with the infamous ‘ hand of God, then proceeded to show how skilful and talented he truly was by scoring one of the greatest World Cup goals ever.

But which is the real Maradona, the drug-taking cheat or the football genius?

That’s what Argentina fans would like to know as the nation heads into the World Cup in June as they’ve seen both the good, bad, and ugly sides of him during his reign as manager since taking over from Alfio Basile in November 2008.

While there’s no doubt Maradona could inspire his teammates and the nation as a captain and player, the verdict’s still out on Maradona the manager, and with good reason. While Maradona took the long way there in an unsteady World Cup qualifying campaign, he eventually got the job done after a 1-0 win over Uruguay in the last qualifier and has now put his team in a position to win the country’s third Cup.

Supporters will praise the 49-year-old for getting the team to South Africa, while critics call it dumb luck. In fact, Cesar Menotti, who coached Argentina to its first World Cup trophy in 1978, saw Maradona’s qualifying-team as disorganized and uninspired. “Argentina seemed to have no ideas, they’re confused and disorganised.” Menotti stated.

His thoughts were echoed by much of Argentina’s press, especially after being thumped 6-1 in Bolivia and because Maradona has called up over 100 different players during his reign.

However, things seemed to have settled down over the past few months as the team has been playing better, emphasized in March by an impressive 1-0 victory in Germany. Man for man, the seventh-ranked Argentina has one of the best teams in the world, especially with Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez spearheading their attack. But the question is, will they play as a cohesive unit in the World Cup or merely as individuals and what impact if any, will Maradona have on his squad?

Maradona knows the squad and the nation will be relying on the goal-scoring skills of Messi, but the young European Footballer of the Year hasn’t played as well for his country as he has for his club team, Barcelona. Most doubters are convinced that without Messi and Tevez firing on all cylinders that Argentina might be coming home early from their 15th World Cup, especially with Nigeria, the Korean Republic, and Greece competing with them in Group B.

However, it appears some people have more faith in Maradona than many of his countrymen as Argentina is 9/20 favourites to win the group and come in as fourth favourites at 7-1 odds to lift the Cup.

Signup at Sportsbook.com now for a great bonus and huge odds selection