The AFA, through its President Claudio Tapia, deeply regrets the death of César Luis Menotti, former coach of the Argentine National Team who currently served as General Director of National Teams, and sends its warmest hug to family and loved ones.
César Luis Menotti, who served in this Association as General Director of National Teams, was born on October 22, 1938 in Rosario, province of Santa Fe, but he was registered as born on November 5 by his father, so that is the date that appears on your personal documents.
In his career as a player he played as a midfielder and his first team was Rosario Central. As technical director, he led Huracán to win the 1973 Metropolitan Tournament and then won the 1978 World Cup while leading the Argentine National Team and the 1979 Youth World Cup.
César Menotti started at Unión América in Fisherton and Argentino in Marcos Juárez. He later moved to the Carcarañense League. He then began his career in Rosario Central, where he played 6 games in reserve and in 1960 he got the opportunity to play in the first team. His debut in the Argentine First Division took place on July 3, 1960 in the match that Rosario Central beat Boca Juniors 3-1. Menotti remained at Central four seasons.
In the 1964-65 season he played for Racing Club. In 1965 he signed for Boca Juniors, a team with which he won a League in his first season.
In 1967 he went to the United States to play with The Generals team (New York Generals). In 1968 he played in Brazil where he played two seasons in Santos, with whom he won the 1968 Paulista Championship. He then signed for Clube Atlético Juventus de São Paulo, where he retired as a footballer at the end of the 1969-70 season.
He debuted in the Nacional 1970 as a coach at Newell’s and coached in two games at the Metropolitano 1971 following being Miguel Antonio Juárez’s assistant. Between 1971 and 1973 he coached Club Atlético Huracán, winning the 1973 Metropolitan Tournament.
In 1974, thanks to the great campaign carried out with Huracán, he became coach of the Argentine National Team, with which he was proclaimed champion of the Soccer World Cup that was organized in our country in 1978. He also coached the Argentine National Team in the World Cup Spain 1982.
In 1983 he signed for FC Barcelona. His debut as a coach in the Spanish first division took place on March 12, 1983 in the match FC Barcelona 1-1 Betis. In that season he won the Copa del Rey and the League Cup.
César Menotti in 1986 became coach of Boca Juniors. In the 87-88 season he coached Atlético de Madrid. In July 1988 he returned to Argentina to become manager of River Plate. A year later he left for Uruguay to coach Peñarol.
In August 1991 he was named coach of the Mexico national team, a position he held for a year and a half and then returned to coach Boca Juniors. In 1996 he served as coach of Independiente.
The following year he coached Sampdoria in Italy and later returned to Argentina as manager of Independiente. In 2002, he coached Rosario Central. In 2005 he returned to Independiente. In 2006 and 2007 he had a stint in Mexican soccer, directing Puebla FC and Tecos de la UAG respectively.
As a player he was also international with the Argentine National Team. His debut took place on August 15, 1962 in a match once morest Uruguay for the Lipton Cup. That year he also played two games once morest the Chilean team for the Carlos Dittborn Cup.
In 1963 he was called up to play in the Copa América that took place in Bolivia: he played two games as a starter ( once morest Peru and Colombia). Additionally, during that same year, he played in the Roca Cup once morest Brazil and the Chevallier Boutell Rosa Cup once morest Paraguay where he scored his first goal with the Argentine shirt.
Menotti was identified in the history of our football for favoring the development of a technical, aesthetic and ball possession game, in which collective, attacking play, and good handling of the ball were the axis of his postulates.
