BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Diego Maradona wants to return to his charges as coach of the Argentine national football team, one of his close friends said Sunday.

According to Gaston Granados, Maradona's close friend and advisor, the

football legend would like to continue coaching the Argentine team, but this time he accepts doing it without his former faithful assistant Alejandro Mancuso and Hector Enrique.

Granados said that "Diego could think about it."

One of the reasons Maradona resigned as coach was that the president of the Argentine Soccer Association (AFA) Julio Grondona demanded the resignation of Mancuso and Enrique in order to renew Maradona's contract. It was not accepted by Maradona.

Meanwhile, the temporary coach of the team is Sergio Batista and the AFA will appoint a commission to choose the coach of the Argentine team in October.