FC Barcelona: Argentina Wants Pep Guardiola as Their Coach

Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association, expressed his desire to have Pep Guardiola (of FC Barcelona) as coach of the country's national team. Grondona made his desires clear in an interview with the Argentine radio station Ona FM.

The declarations were published in the online magazine Soccerway. The news comes in light of Lionel Messi expressing his desire to play in Argentina before retiring.

Guardiola appears to fit the requirements to become coach of the Argentine National World Football (AFA) team. Since his arrival at FC Barcelona in 2008, Guardiola managed to win the UEFA Champions League two times, the Spanish League three times and the Spanish Super Cup three times in a row.

La Blaugrana has won (as well) the FIFA Club World Cup two times, the European Super Cup two times and the Spanish Cup once. Barca was selected as the best club by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) for the year 2011.

Guardiola was named Coach of the Year by the IFFHS and FIFA within the same year. Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas signed with FC Barcelona during the 2011 Summer Transfer Period.

While Guardiola fulfills the requirements for Argentina, is he ready for Argentina and vice versa? Does Argentina think Guardiola can help them in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil?

Argentina has been undergoing changes of coaches since its defeat to Germany in the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. The result of the defeat was the replacement of Diego Maradona by Sergio Batista.

Sergio Batista was eventually replaced by Alejandro Sabella last summer. The other subject are the accusations of corruption in Argentine World Football, as reported by Argentine TV Channel America and published in Goal.

Guardiola helping Argentina in the 2014 World Cup remains a question mark, taking into account the events in the country. It would be better for Guardiola to remain as coach of FC Barcelona (for the present tense) while keeping his options open for the future.