Pele: Great players do not usually make great coaches

Brazilian football legend Pele made clear his scepticism as to the likelihood that Diego Maradona might be successful as coach of Argentina's senior team.

"Great stars, great players do not usually make good coaches. And sometimes a footballer that was not so brilliant in his career becomes a great coach," Pele noted, in comments that Brazilian media published Thursday.

Pele and Maradona are regarded as the two great candidates for the title of the best football players in history.

"I hope everything goes well for him. For him it is just another chance to get over everything he faced," the Brazilian said of Maradona's past drug problems.

According to Pele, Maradona would do well to follow the advice of experienced coach Carlos Bilardo, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title and will now be part of Argentina's managing team under Maradona.

"Bilardo knows football very well. If Maradona listens to Bilardo, he will have a great adviser and then everything can work out well. Maradona can learn a lot, should he want to," Pele said.