Cesar Luis Menotti 1938-2024
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 4:41 pm
Have just learned that Cesar Luis Menotti passed away on Sunday.
About the Argentina national team one wonders where to begin. Jonathan Wilson's book about the Argentines and football is aptly titled in my opinion, "Angels with Dirty Faces".
Most observers consider 1970 to have been the greatest WC final phase. Perhaps. However, 1974 saw the magnificent Dutch led by the maestro that was Johan Cruyff. The Germans crushed the Dutch dream thanks to having an excellent team - it hurts me to say so - and home advantage.
Although Cruyff wasn't there, the Dutch relived the same nightmare four years later.
I have no doubts that the 1978 Argentina team would have struggled to win the WC outside of its own borders. The infamous 6-0 defeat of Peru in the final game of the Second Group phase - no QFs or SFs - besmirched their final victory.
And yet. Menotti withstood enormous pressure from a nation and its expectations. He refused to call up Maradona, the prodigal son, citing his inability to cope with the pressure. He was proven to be right.
For those of us old enough to recall those night games in Buenos Aires, well, they were something else. Argentina played some excellent football with a certain Osvaldo Ardiles pulling the strings in midfield. Kempes scored the scores along with Luque. And their defence was inevitably difficult to breach.
Passarella epitomised the standard Argentinian defender. A player not bereft of technical ability but a man who took no prisoners and left all his opponents with scars to remember him by.
For Passarella, read Romero in 2022.
Thank you Cesar for those distant memories. The game of football is no longer the same, no longer your game. But they cannot take our memories away.
About the Argentina national team one wonders where to begin. Jonathan Wilson's book about the Argentines and football is aptly titled in my opinion, "Angels with Dirty Faces".
Most observers consider 1970 to have been the greatest WC final phase. Perhaps. However, 1974 saw the magnificent Dutch led by the maestro that was Johan Cruyff. The Germans crushed the Dutch dream thanks to having an excellent team - it hurts me to say so - and home advantage.
Although Cruyff wasn't there, the Dutch relived the same nightmare four years later.
I have no doubts that the 1978 Argentina team would have struggled to win the WC outside of its own borders. The infamous 6-0 defeat of Peru in the final game of the Second Group phase - no QFs or SFs - besmirched their final victory.
And yet. Menotti withstood enormous pressure from a nation and its expectations. He refused to call up Maradona, the prodigal son, citing his inability to cope with the pressure. He was proven to be right.
For those of us old enough to recall those night games in Buenos Aires, well, they were something else. Argentina played some excellent football with a certain Osvaldo Ardiles pulling the strings in midfield. Kempes scored the scores along with Luque. And their defence was inevitably difficult to breach.
Passarella epitomised the standard Argentinian defender. A player not bereft of technical ability but a man who took no prisoners and left all his opponents with scars to remember him by.
For Passarella, read Romero in 2022.
Thank you Cesar for those distant memories. The game of football is no longer the same, no longer your game. But they cannot take our memories away.
