Argentina striker Lionel Messi says he didn't want Diego Maradona to leave as coach of the national team and had thought the football great would be kept on.
In his first public comments since last week's announcement that Maradona's contract would not be renewed, Messi on Thursday expressed support for his former coach but also looked to the future.
"Of course I did not want to see him depart," Messi told reporters in Beijing, where his Spanish club Barcelona was due to play a friendly Sunday.
"I had always thought he would be able to stay. But there are lots of things in football you can't predict. Now we're four years from the next World Cup and we need to do a good job of preparing," Messi said.
The Argentine Football Association last Tuesday announced it would not renew Maradona's contract, ending his erratic 21-month stint in charge of the national team that had mirrored his own long personal history of unpredictable behavior and defiance.
That move came just three weeks after Argentina was beaten 4-0 by Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals at South Africa. Maradona responded by saying he hadn't been given enough time to turn the team around and accused team officials of lying to him.
Barcelona coach Pep coach Guardiola said he expected Messi to play in Sunday night's match against Chinese Super League champions Beijing Guoan. Messi made a 17-minute appearance and scored two goals in Wednesday's 5-2 win over a South Korean all-star team.
The Spanish champions are traveling in Asia without Spanish World Cup-winning players Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa and Carles Puyol.
