Zabaleta revealed that he missed the key match of the Argentina national team due to injury in the Manchester City game, which angered Maradona and missed the 2010 World Cup.
Argentinian full-back Zabaleta played for Manchester City for a long time, but he failed to participate in the 2010 World Cup because the then Argentine national team coach Maradona was dissatisfied with him. Zabaleta revealed: "When Maradona coached the national team, he said before taking over the team that he had his own full-back candidate. After the national team played several games, I was unable to play, and I did not participate in the initial qualifiers."
But then Zabaleta performed well in the Premier League and attracted the attention of the Argentine national team. Maradona originally wanted Zabaleta to participate in two key World Cup qualifiers. Zabaleta said: "For Argentina to qualify for the World Cup, they have to beat Peru at home and Uruguay away. Maradona called me up for those two games, but Manchester City's away game against Villa was scheduled for Monday night. Maradona called Tevez and me because we were going to Argentina for a key game and considering that we would start... But I answered that I had to wait for (Manchester City coach) Mark Hughes' decision. Wait for him to announce the lineup first."
Zabaleta continued: "I am in the starting lineup, but I can't tell the coach that I don't want to play in the game because I want to go to the national team? I am a club player first, and I must respect the club and coach who pay me. If the coach decides to let me play, I have to play."
Zabaleta was injured: "But unfortunately, I felt muscle discomfort in the last few minutes of that club game. We had to rush back to the national team immediately, so I did not undergo examination at the club. I notified the Argentina national team doctor and asked him to examine me. After I arrived at the national team, the doctor performed an ultrasound examination and found that I had a first-level muscle tear, almost a second-level tear, which caused me to miss the two key games of the national team."
This incident affected the relationship between Zabaleta and Maradona: "I was a little unhappy with Maradona because of this. To a certain extent, I can understand it. When the team doctor told him that I was injured, he was in an extremely nervous period because the Argentina national team's qualifying situation was in jeopardy. He was disappointed with me and thought that I did not try my best to fight for the opportunity to participate in those two games. I don't know, but I just did what I should do according to the standards of a professional player."
In the end, Sabarete was not called up by Maradona and missed the 2010 World Cup. "I came back to the club with complete disappointment, and at that moment I wanted to die because I missed those games because if I had played and performed well, I would have qualified for the World Cup in South Africa. But in the end it was all over and I never had the chance. That injury caused me to miss those two crucial games, and although Argentina eventually qualified for the World Cup, Maradona never called me up. It was one of the biggest disappointments of my career."