The death of “The Thin” The passing of the first coach who led Argentina to win the World Cup

The Argentine Football Association announced, yesterday evening, Sunday, the death of the legendary Cesar Luis Menotti, the former coach of the historic Argentine national team, at the age of 85.

The Argentine Football Association said in a brief statement: “The Argentine Football Association regrets to announce with great sadness the death of Cesar Luis Menotti, the current director of the national teams and the former World Cup-winning coach.”

He added: “Goodbye Flaco,” as he was nicknamed that name, and “Flaco” means “skinny” in Spanish, in reference to his thin body.

Cesar Luis Menotti was a veteran Argentine footballer and coach, born on November 5, 1938, and died on May 5, 2024.

During his career, Menotti played as a striker for clubs such as Rosario Central and Boca Juniors of Argentina in the 1960s.

Menotti quickly retired from football in 1970, and then began his career in the world of coaching, starting at Newell’s Old Boys as an assistant coach to the technical director Juarez.

In his first assignment as technical director with the Huracan team, he led a team that included prominent players, headed by Carlos Babington. He received widespread media praise for his playing style, and established himself as one of the best Argentine teams at the time.

Menotti's brilliance with Huracan over a period of 3 years helped him to be appointed coach of the Argentine national team in October 1974.

Cesar Luis Menotti was able to lead the Argentine “Albiceleste” team to win the World Cup champion title for the first time in its history in 1978 at the expense of the then terrible Netherlands team, despite his young age, when he was only thirty-nine years old.

Menotti thus became the third youngest coach to win the World Cup (39 years old), behind Mario Zagallo in 1970 with Brazil, at the age of 38 years, and Alberto Subici (31 years old) with Uruguay in 1930.

Menotti led the Argentina U-20 team to success in the World Youth Championship in Japan in 1979, and the team's star was Diego Armando Maradona.

Menotti hoped to continue creating glory with Argentina in the 1982 World Cup, but he exited the tournament in the second round with two successive defeats at the hands of Italy and Brazil in the third group.

Menotti then took over the leadership of several clubs, most notably Barcelona, ​​with whom he won some titles in the 1983-1984 season, then Boca Juniors of Argentina, Atletico Madrid of Spain, then River Plate of Argentina at the end of the 1980s, in addition to a number of other clubs until 2007.

Menotti was appointed director of the Argentine national teams in January 2019, a position he held until his death.