Argentina ‘Earns’ Rose Bowl Berth : Group D: Without Maradona, team falls to Bulgaria, 2-0, and drops to third in division.

Life without Diego Maradona began for Argentina on Thursday night. It looks like it’s going to be a little dull around the house for a while.

With their star banned earlier in the day in the World Cup’s first drug scandal in 16 years, the usually fluid Argentines sputtered and lost, 2-0, to Bulgaria at the Cotton Bowl.

That cost them the Group D title, which went to Nigeria. Bulgaria was second, thanks to a goal in injury time by Nasko Sirakov. Argentina dropped to third.

Both Bulgaria and Argentina advanced to the second round, but certainly not the way expected as recently as 24 hours ago.

Argentina, which outscored its first two opponents, 6-1, and dictated play, had a 6-3 goals differential, the same as Bulgaria. When Nigeria also scored in injury time to beat Greece 2-0, it gave the surprising Africans first place in the group. Bulgaria, by virtue of beating Argentina, was second.

Argentina will play Romania at the Rose Bowl on Sunday. Bulgaria, in the second round for only the second time, will play Mexico at East Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday.

But the Bulgarians will be without three starters--Trifon Ivanov, Zlatko Iankov and Tsanko Tzvetanov--who picked up their second yellow cards of the first round. That draws an automatic one-game suspension.

Hristo Stoichkov, the fleet striker, put Bulgaria ahead on a beautiful breakaway capped by a left-footed shot in the 61st minute. Sirakov added the second goal on a header off a corner kick in injury time.

Still, the last day of the tournament’s first round belonged to the little man who wasn’t there.

Maradona was facing end of his career at least five games earlier than he had planned, because he was found with banned stimulants in his body.

The Bulgarian game was to have been Maradona’s 22nd in World Cup play, a record. Instead, he remained at the team’s hotel, expelled from the squad, while Leonardo Rodriguez took his place at right halfback.

Maradona is short and his black hair is now cut close. Rodriguez is lanky with flowing brown locks. But looks aren’t the only differences between the two, as Argentina and its fans found out.

There was no way to get the ball to the shooters, Gabriela Batistuta and Claudio Caniggia. And the attack suffered more when Caniggia left in the 22nd minute because of a chronic injury to his left big toe.