Pekerman leaves Argentina with void at the top

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, July 2 (Reuters) As Argentina's World Cup squad left Germany over the weekend there was only one man clearly waiting to pick up the reins -- Diego Maradona.

Coach Jose Pekerman quit as soon as his team were eliminated in a penalty shootout by hosts Germany in the quarter-final in Berlin on Friday, a decision that took Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Julio Grondona by surprise.

Grondona, who has been at the helm since 1979 and presided over Argentina's second World Cup victory in 1986 when Maradona was captain, had hoped the Pekerman era would continue and he may still try to persuade the coach to change his mind.

''I didn't foresee it,'' Grondona was quoted in La Nacion newspaper as saying about Pekerman's decision. ''Jose apologised to me for not having told me before.

''This is not the moment to decide anything. Nothing has been closed. When we're calmer, in Buenos Aires we'll deal with the matter,'' Grondona added.

Pekerman has been slammed for substituting playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme against Germany and for not sending on teenage hope Lionel Messi.

He has also been praised, though, for giving Argentina back the respect of the football world after their failure to get past the group stage in Japan four years ago.

YOUNG TALENT His team go home widely regarded as the best of the tournament, unbeaten except on penalties and packed with young talent pointing to a bright future.

What worries Grondona, no doubt, is where to find the right guiding hand for the team with no obvious candidates at home and those who have worked abroad, like Carlos Bianchi or Hector Cuper, not fitting the bill.

Maradona, icon of a golden age for Argentine football, has often been touted and has tried to get himself invited into the national team set-up, the last time as recently as last October.

Grondona and Pekerman have said they would welcome Argentina's greatest player with open arms but the volatility of the man and his poor, short-lived coaching experience with a club side a decade back make Maradona a risky choice.

It should surprise no-one, however, if Maradona is picked for the powers of motivation and inspiration that helped him fire up the Argentina teams he led.

Maradona might also be prepared to put more faith in Argentina's natural attacking and ball-playing instincts.

He himself was left out of the squad that Cesar Luis Menotti steered to the world crown on home soil in 1978, while Daniel Passarella did not release the talent of Marcelo Gallardo or even pick Claudio Caniggia in 1998.

Marcelo Bielsa picked an ageing Caniggia in 2002 when he could have taken the young Javier Saviola while Pekerman thought on Friday that neither Messi nor even Saviola could be a match-winner in Berlin.

REUTERS PM BD1627