Batista officially named Argentina coach

Buenos Aires: Olympic gold medal-winning coach Sergio Batista was confirmed as expected on Tuesday to succeed Diego Maradona as Argentina`s coach until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Batista, who has already presided over three friendlies since August in an interim capacity, was officially presented as the new coach at an Argentine Football Association news conference.Maradona`s contract expired after Argentina`s humiliating 4-0 defeat by Germany in this year`s World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa.Batista, who will be 48 next Tuesday, named a squad earlier on Tuesday to play arch-rivals Brazil in a friendly in Qatar on Nov. 17, his first commitment as head coach. Bureau Report