BUENOS AIRES. July 6: Anonymous threats have been made to kill Daniel Cerrini. who is alleged to have administered the banned products that led to Diego Maradona's expulsion from the World Cup. reports AFP.

The threats were made In calls to Cerrini's family, who have denied the dietician pre scribed ephedrine for Argen Una s World Cup captain.

Friends say they are wor ried following the murder of Colombian World Cup defender Andrea Escobar, who was shot .on Saturday in Medellin after scoring an own goal in the United States.

All that is known of Cerrini's present whereabouts is that he is still tn the United ^''Kfeanwhlle, ArgenUna coach Alfio Basile dismissed claims Maradona s film star behaviour had disrupted the team

Frankly, he surprised me. He trained three times a day and behaved like a real pro. Basile told the Clarln newspaper

That was all that counted The rest didn t interest me.'

Basile said Maradona was surrounded by hangers on and did not mix with the rest of the team once training was fin ished

'But otherwise he did ev erythlng tasked of him.' Basile added.

He said if ArgenUna had had Maradona and the injured Claudio Caniggla they would have reached the final

Basile had already marked out 20 year-old Arnaldo Ortega as Maradona s successor

He has a gift from heaven. Anybody would want a player like him tn their aide '