Diego Maradona will get another opportunity to lead his country into a World Cup during the next tournament in Brazil. If things go as planned and Maradona accepts the offer, we will see the great man one more time in the playing area cheering his players.

It was widely speculated that after the dismal performance in this year’s World Cup, the Argentine football association will not extend Maradona’s contract but now it is clear that it wants Maradona to take charge of the national side for the next World Cup. The decision was made when the executive committee of AFA met recently to discuss about Maradona’s future and they decided that he was the best man to do the job and could help Argentina regain lost glory. Although nothing is official yet, the news of Maradona accepting the offer is making rounds.

As a player Maradona was inspirational in leading Argentina to World Cup glory in the 1986 finals and when he was appointed the coach of the national side a lot was expected out of him. But with no prior coaching experience and a number of problems related to health and personal life, he had a lot of problems in ensuring Argentina berth in this year’s finals.

However, during the World Cup it looked like he had finally adjusted as Argentina started very well, until they were thrashed by the Germans in the knock out round. It remains to be seen if he is able to redeem his stature and his ability as a coach. He has some great players at his disposal and if things go as planned, he could very well change the table this time round.

Fabio Capello who is the coach of the English team has severely criticized the Italian football as he claimed it has been run by violent ultras who praise the divers when they should punish them. In a special seminar at Coverciano, organized by the Italian FA, Capello hit back at Calcio saying it was impossible to compare it with the English game. This has created a rift between Capello and the higher authorities of the Italian football.

According to Capello, it is the ultras who have a final say in the Serie A and there is no one to raise their voice and apply any law against them. Capello was quoted as saying to the Sky Sport Italia. He also cleared the fact that the divers who are jeered back in England are praised and showered with prizes in Italy. Fabio Capello has also had the chance of coaching the Milan and Juventus side. He claimed that he never found the Italy national side as appealing or fascinating as the English side. Capello statements had the Italian authorities responding very quickly.

The Italian FA president, Giancarlo Abete and Gianni Petrucci, the Italian Olympic Committee chief gave their own piece of mind and apparently regretted at inviting the coach to talk. Abete made it very clear to everybody that they are not hostage to the ultras and confirmed that they work together with the authorities in such matters. Petrucci went on to the extent of saying that Capello’s word meant absolutely nothing.

I remember I went to this Keeper school over this last summer. At the end they had you write down 3 goals: What you want to accomplish right now, What you hope to accomplish, and what your dreams are for the future. Out of all my fellow keepers, I think I had by far the most realistic dreams: Play soccer for as long as I can at the best level possible. Some guys wrote down stupid stuff like playing in the English Premier, La Liga, the list goes on and it got more annoying after talking to each person.

The Coaches responded to everything we wrote but talking to them was a whole different thing. One of the Coaches gave me the best thing to remember and its the most Simple thing to remember when thinking about being pro:

“When you wake up every morning, you need to ask yourself, how bad do I want it and what am I going to do to make myself better than anybody else. If someone else on any team is more fit, has more endurance, or is faster than me, then I have to work 10x as hard as that person. Honestly it is something simple which will make you pro if you do exactly that and prove it by your work ethics.”

So There you have it. But here is some realistic layman’s terms:

• Work out harder and more than all your teammates.
• Beat all your teammates easily.
• Get your mile, 2-mile times down to a track team level.
• Practice soccer everyday, whether its with a team or individual training.
• Play soccer year around, meaning, never stop.
• Play on as many teams as allowed or with a competitive enough team that plays enough to cover as many as 2-3 teams worth.
• Never tell yourself you are the best.

Finally, this is how pros make it to be pros. They have that desire to become the best and be the best. If your willing to do all this, then by all means, boast and be proud of yourself when you’re there-standing on the pitch and playing for a professional team-until then please be modest. I don’t know everything, but if I were to give my best answer for the ever so complicated question of: How do you become pro? That would be my answer with other commentaries.