Argentina's player Lionel Messi (left) poses with his country's football legend Diego Maradona. - AP

MILAN, Italy (AP)

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has welcomed Diego Maradona's expected appointment as Argentina's coach, even though he was recently criticised by the football great as being too selfish.

"Those are things that you say at the time. I know Diego appreciates me and I don't hold any grudges," Messi said in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday. "There's no problem. He's a great and I admire him for what he gave to Argentine football." Maradona's appointment will be confirmed next week, the Argentine football association said.

Maradona and Carlos Bilardo were asked on Tuesday to lead the national team by Julio Grondona, the head of the Argentine Football Association. Maradona would be the coach and Bilardo the manager.

As an overage player, Messi led Argentina to gold at this year's Beijing Olympics. The country hasn't won the World Cup since Maradona led the team to the title in 1986.

I'm optimistic

"I'm optimistic. The generation that won the Olympics is coming up. In 2006, if we had been a bit more fortunate in the (quarter-final) with Germany we would have won," Messi said, referring to the penalty shoot-out loss. "Argentina has gone too long without winning the World Cup."

Corrado Ferlaino, who was president of Napoli when Maradona led the club to two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990, said Maradona was in effect a player-coach with Napoli.

"For a period (Ottavio) Bianchi was the coach, but starting in his second year the players didn't talk to Bianchi anymore. Maradona was the real coach," Ferlaino told a local radio station.

Salvatore Bagni, a former teammate of Maradona's at Napoli and one of his best friends, said Maradona has been dreaming of this job for three years.

He plays only to win

"It shows that Maradona always achieves his goals," Bagni said. "One thing is for sure - he doesn't like to just participate. He plays only to win. His goal now is to win the 2010 World Cup and with the team he has available, he could do it."

Bianchi, who coached Mara-dona to his first title with Napoli in 1987, said he hadn't heard from Maradona in years.

"I can't really say how he'll do as a coach," Bianchi said. "I can only say I'm very happy for him. It's nice for everyone to see a champion like Diego not only healthy, but happy too."