BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – The Argentine Football Association announced Sunday that César Luis Menotti, the charismatic coach who led Argentina to its first World Cup victory in 1978, has died. He was 85 years old.
“Goodbye, dear Flaco!” the association's statement added, using Menotti's nickname, which means “the thin one.”
The association has not disclosed the cause of death. According to local media reports, Menotti was hospitalized in March with severe anemia. He reportedly underwent surgery for phlebitis in April and has since returned home.
A passion for football and a keen ability to explain its mechanics were Menotti's hallmarks as a trainer, and he was considered one of the most iconic and influential coaches in Argentine football.
Menotti is a political activist, an associate member of the Argentine Communist Party, and a boxing fan, especially in Latin America, including Mario Benedetti, Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Sabato, and João Manuel Cerratto. was an admirer of the author's work.
“When Borges was once interviewed and I asked him if he was bothered by the fact that I smoked, he said, 'It's not the cigarettes that get me drunk, it's the stupid conversations,'” Menotti said. recalled in one of his last interviews.
“So I asked about everything…but not about football, because I know about football!” he added.
He started his playing career with Rosario Central (1960-1963 and 1967), before moving to Argentine clubs Racing Club (1964) and Boca Juniors (1965-1966). Menotti played for the New York Generals in the United States (1967), then Santos in Brazil (1968) and Juventus in Italy (1969-1970).
At Santos, he played alongside Pele, who he did not hesitate to call the best of the legends.
Menotti coached the Argentina national team from 1974 to 1983. Believing that the reason Argentina's national team did not receive the recognition it deserved when it won the 1978 World Cup was because the country was ruled by a military regime responsible for widespread human rights abuses. Was. Menotti's critics often recall a photo of him shaking hands with junta leader Jorge Rafael Videla after the World Cup victory.
On the eve of the World Cup, Menotti removed 17-year-old Maradona from his squad. The director said this decision later soured relations between the two over the years.
Menotti coached the Mexican national team from 1991 to 1992. He also managed Barcelona (1983-1984) and had Maradona in the team. Atletico Madrid (1987-88); Peñarol of Uruguay (1990-91). Sampdoria in Italy (1997) and Tecos in Mexico (2007) were his last managerial jobs.
For years, Menotti frequently held a cigarette between his lips, but he largely kicked the habit in 2011 after a three-day hospitalization for cigarette addiction.
He was also known for having long but neat hair. He says he doesn't rely on hairdressers. “I cut my hair myself. I took scissors and cut the ends.”
Menotti started leaving her hair long in the early 1970s. “One day I said, 'I'm not cutting my hair until I lose.' We were undefeated in 10 games, so it all started as a joke,” he said.
In his later years, Menotti said he was not afraid of death. “That's the only thing I'm sure of. I don't know anyone who hasn't died at some point,” he said in 2014.
