Maradona unleashes the "shorties"

By Brian Homewood

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's trio of "shorties" have a bright future, coach Diego Maradona said after his three-pronged attack of Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi led the 4-0 rout of Venezuela.

All three players, average height 1.70 metres, scored in Saturday's World Cup qualifier which marked Maradona's home and competitive debut since his surprise appointment last year.

"It was the perfect game, we kept the ball, we broke down the flanks and we had lots of scoring chances created by the shorties," he told reporters after the game.

"I want to hear the response of those who want us to play with big strikers and pump high balls at them.

"The boys knew when to wait for their moment and we scored the goals at exactly the right time. Venezuela have improved and it wasn't easy to score four goals.

"These players like to perforate defences," added Maradona, a shorty himself at 1.65 metres. "This is my ideal team."

Messi had one of his best games for Argentina scoring the first goal, setting up the second and nearly adding another with a brilliant run through the Venezuela defence late in the game.

"If Messi plays like that every time it will be excellent. If that last chance had gone in, we would all have had to leave the stadium, pay for another ticket and come back in again," said Maradona.