[Football] Death of César Luis Menotti, the emblematic coach of Argentina

César Luis Menotti, coach of the 1978 home world champion Argentina team, has died at the age of 85, the National Football Federation (AFA) announced on Sunday.

“The Argentine Football Federation regrets to announce with deep sadness the death of Luis César Menotti, the director of the national selections and former world champion coach,” writes the AFA on its X account.

Menotti was hospitalized in March in a Buenos Aires hospital for a “severe case of anemia” and was released in mid-April. The cause of death has not yet been announced, but according to Argentine media, César Menotti died on Sunday “of stomach cancer.”

Born in Rosario, Menotti was a professional player in the 1960s then embarked on a coaching career, winning an Argentine championship title with the Buenos Aires-based club Huracan in 1973.

He then took charge of the national team which he led to the world title in 1978 and which he still led during the 82 World Cup in Spain (elimination in the 2nd round).

Landing after the Spanish World Cup, he then frequented the major Argentinean clubs (Boca Juniors, River Plate) and Spanish clubs (FC Barcelona with Diego Maradona, Atlético Madrid), but his record was only enriched by a Spanish King’s Cup. , a Spanish Super Cup and a Spanish League Cup, a competition that has since disappeared, with FC Barcelona in 1983.

“Inspirer of entire generations”

All of Argentina football paid tribute on Sunday to the memory of the emblematic coach of the Albiceleste’s very first world title.

Mario Kempes, the striker who scored in the final and hero of the 1978 title under Menotti, in a long and moving message on Instagram mourned “the departure of such an emblematic and beloved figure from the world of football, an irreparable loss “.

Menotti was “much more than a colleague, he was for me an invaluable friend and mentor,” said Kempes, 69, for whom “his passion for the game, his tactical wisdom and his humility inspired entire generations of players and coaches.

“One of the greats of our football has left us. Condolences to his family and loved ones, RIP,” reacted Lionel Messi on social networks, the captain of the selection and the third world crown in 2022.

“A Master of football has left us, thank you for these profound exchanges in which you left your mark on us, farewell, dear Flaco” (“Skinny”, the affectionate nickname of the slender Menotti), for his part wrote Lionel Scaloni, current coach of Argentina, and he also made history with the title in Qatar.

The Argentine president, the ultraliberal Javier Milei, expressed in a message on X his “deep sorrow for the departure of the leader of a group which gave the country one of its greatest joys”.

The head of state does not fail to mention the political affinities of Menotti, who is marked on the left. “Although I adhere to another school, it would be foolish to deny the contribution of César Luis Menotti. Farewell, Flaco…”

His former clubs Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona, ​​as well as the Spanish Federation paid tribute to him on X by leaving the message “rest in peace”.