Diego Maradona has officially taken over as the new coach of Argentina.
"It's an honour," Maradona said.
"It's a dream come true being named coach of the national team.
"I'm going to give it my all to make sure that things go well. We're going to work every day so that Argentina has a national team that keeps getting better and better."
Dressed in a suit and blue tie, the 48-year-old football great was flanked at a news conference by new Argentina manager Carlos Bilardo and Julio Grondona, the head of the Argentine federation.
While Maradona remains a national hero, his appointment has been questioned by local media and football fans since it was first announced last week.
Many are doubtful Maradona can translate his technical skills into coaching expertise, and are wary of the star's past, which includes drug and obesity battles.
His first game in charge will be a friendly against Scotland on November 19 at Glasgow.
Grondona brushed aside criticism that Maradona wasn't qualified to be a coach, saying "we have the security of excellence." Maradona replaces Alfio Basile, who stepped down on Oct. 16, one day after a historic 1-0 loss against neighboring Chile in World Cup qualifying. Argentina was third in the South American race.
One of Maradona's first decisions was to replace Javier Zanetti as captain with Javier Mascherano.
Maradona said Mascherano was the "best suited player" because he brings together the necessary characteristics of "thinking, sacrifice, professional, being attentive to teammates."
However, Maradona's coaching team was in limbo. Last Friday, it seemed Sergio Batista and Jose Luis Brown, Maradona's teammates in Argentina's 1986 World Cup champion side, would be his assistants.
Batista was the Argentina Youth coach and Brown his assistant. Batista also coached the team that won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
But Maradona surprised local media on Monday when he announced that he preferred Oscar Ruggeri and his friend Alejandro Mancuso on his coaching team. But AFA head Grondona apparently doesn't approve, and so the official announcement on the assistants was stalled.
"We still don't have it resolved," Maradona said.
"What we're looking for with Carlos is that the (new coaching staff) be made of iron, that they're ready to work and that they will accept orders from the head guy, which is me," Maradona said on Tuesday.
His first move as coach will be to travel to Spain to watch Real Madrid host Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, he said. He will travel throughout Europe to speak with Argentine footballers playing for European clubs, to put together his team.
