Mark Hughes Criticises Diego Maradona Over Pablo Zabaleta Snub

Mark Hughes, the Manchester City manager, has criticized Diego Maradona's decision to overlook Pablo Zabaleta for the Argentina national team.

Maradona, whose brief spell in charge of Argentina has also seen the midfielder Juan Riquelme controversially lose his place, visited England recently to meet Carlos Tevez at Manchester United and Javier Mascherano at Liverpool. He did not make any attempt to see Zabaleta.

"Maradona has been about 300 yards from our training ground [at United's practice ground] so he only needed to pop in," said Hughes. "I'm surprised, given the season that he [Zabaleta] has had. He's been outstanding ever since he's come here from Spain. He's also shown his versatility for us, something that I feel is a real asset in a player.

"He's able to adapt to a variety of positions. So sometimes you can change formation without having to make substitutions if you have a player of Zaby's flexibility on the pitch. That's a good trait to have, and Pablo is a great help in that respect. His performance levels in midfield this season have been excellent, while his performance at full-back goes without saying."

Zabaleta, who joined City from Espanyol in August, played in all of Argentina's six matches when they won Olympic gold last year and has two full caps.

"Pablo is still a young player and I'm sure his time will come, because he is doing fabulously well in the hardest league in the world," Hughes said. "I think Maradona is aware of him. It's his decision.

"As managers we stand or fall by our decisions, and so will he."