Argentine coach César Luis Menotti dies at 85 – DW – 05/06/2024

César Luis Menotti, Argentina coach, world champion in 1978 and legendary figure of Argentine football, died at the age of 85, the official account of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) reported this Sunday (05/05/2024) in X.

“The Argentine Football Association regrets to report with great sadness the death of César Luis Menotti, current director of National Teams and former world champion coach of Argentina,” the statement said.

Menotti had been admitted to a sanatorium in Buenos Aires in March for a “severe case of anemia” for which he was discharged in mid-April. The causes of death have not yet been announced.

Born in the city of Rosario, Menotti was a player in the 1960s and stood out as a coach, becoming champion with the Huracán club (in 1973) before directing the Argentine national team, where, in addition to winning the world championship in 1978 and directing that of 1982, is recognized as a pioneer in the modernization of the equipment.

The Argentine star Lionel Messi said goodbye to him through his social networks: “One of the greats of our football has left us. Condolences to his family and loved ones, RIP.”

As a player, Menotti played for Rosario Central, Racing Club and Boca Juniors, in Argentina, and was briefly Pelé’s teammate at Santos in Brazil, before retiring to dedicate himself to coaching.

Menotti managed fifteen teams in five countries and since 2019 he has served as director of the AFA National Teams, forging a very good relationship with Lionel Scaloni, the world champion coach in Qatar-2022.

After learning of the death, Scaloni published on his Instagram account a photo of Menotti with the World Cup in his hand and wrote: “A football master has left us, thank you for those endearing talks in which you left a mark on us, goodbye skinny dear”.

Local and international football received with pain the news of the death of someone who was one of the promoters of romantic football, who always maintained a philosophy based on offensive play and partnerships between footballers: “The goal is a pass to the net,” It was one of his famous phrases.

Mario Alberto Kempes, a figure from the 1978 World Cup with Argentina, also said goodbye to him on his social networks: “The departure of such an emblematic and beloved figure in the world of football is an irreparable loss. César Luis Menotti was much more than a colleague, he was an invaluable friend and mentor to me.”

Javier Milei sent his condolences

At halftime of the Argentine league final in which Estudiantes beat Vélez on penalties this Sunday, his death was announced and the fans, who filled the stands of the Santiago del Estero stadium (north), exploded in applause.

For his part, Argentine President Javier Milei expressed in his X account his “deep pain at the departure of the leader of a group that has given one of the greatest joys to the country.”

Barcelona of Spain, a club with which he won three titles as a coach between 1982 and 1983, and in which he coached Diego Maradona, published in X: “FC Barcelona wants to express its condolences for the death of the Club’s former coach, César “Luis Menotti. Rest in peace.”

For its part, the Spanish Atlético de Madrid account expressed in

The Spanish Football Federation joined in “condolences to all Argentine football and to those who enjoyed him during his time in Spanish football.”

Mexican soccer also made a statement, where ‘el Flaco’ was coach between 1991 and 1992 and left an excellent image among his team.

“The Mexican Football Federation and the MX League regret the sensitive death of César Luis Menotti,” both institutions reported in an obituary published on their social networks.

The 1978 Argentina World Cup title left a stigma for Menotti. He won in the middle of a dictatorship with 30,000 missing, according to humanitarian entities.

Menotti once said: “I was used, of course. No one could imagine that people were thrown into the ocean.” He could not avoid the reproaches.

Another reproach, but a soccer one, was not having called up Maradona, then 17 years old, to the national team in that World Cup, who was left off the final list.

‘El Flaco’ had a decisive influence on Argentine football in the last 40 years in the midst of an extensive controversy with Carlos Bilardo, world champion in Mexico-86, who proclaimed pragmatic football.

mg (afp,clarin)