La Paz  - Argentina coach Diego Maradona admitted Wednesday that his men were overpowered in every aspect of the game they lost 6-1 to Bolivia in La Paz, in a phenomenon that he described as "inexplicable."

"The whole of Bolivia played very well," he admitted. "They played good football."

As for his own men, Maradona was critical and said they did nothing of what they had planned ahead of the match.

"Argentina surprised me. I was surprised by the fact that they created so many chances," he said.

Buenos Aires - Argentines flocked to the national Congress building in Buenos Aires early Wednesday to pay their respects to former president Raul Alfonsin, who died late Tuesday of lung cancer at age 82.

Buenos Aires  - Former Argentina president Raul Alfonsin, who led his country out of an era of dictatorship, died late Tuesday, his personal doctor confirmed. He was 82.

Alfonsin died peacefully, his doctor Alberto Sadler said.

Earlier in the day, his son son Ricardo Alfonsin said his condition was rapidly deteriorating following a bout of pneumonia, but that he was still lucid. Alfonsin was suffering from lung cancer.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sunday and was being treated at his home in the Barrio Norte neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires  - Former Argentina president Raul Alfonsin, who led his country out of an era of dictatorship, was said to be in a rapidly deteriorating condition on Tuesday following a bout of pneumonia.

Alfonsin, 82, suffers from lung cancer, but his son Ricardo Alfonsin said that he was still lucid.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sunday and was being treated at his home in the Barrio Norte neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires  - Argentina coach Diego Maradona on Saturday granted to superstar Lionel Messi the prestigious number 10 jersey that he once wore himself.

Maradona - nicknamed "El Diez" because he is for most the best player ever to wear that shirt - picked Barcelona striker Messi as one of his successors prior to his first competitive game as national team coach, against Venezuela in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires  - Thousands of people gathered Friday to buy tickets for Argentina's game against Venezuela in Buenos Aires, which was set to be Argentine football legend Diego Maradona's first official match as national team coach.

The queue was more than 700 metres long to get one of the 13,000 "popular" tickets for the Monumental stadium, the cheapest option available at around 10 dollars each, to watch the historic game on site.