Amr Obaid (Cairo)
The Argentine Football Association announced the death of the “legendary” Cesar Luis Menotti at the age of 85. The Argentine Football Association wrote a statement that it published on its website and its official social media accounts, in which it expressed its deep sadness and pain over the death of the national teams director, who was the first to win the title in the history of the country. “Tango Dancers” at the 1978 World Cup, and the local federation published an extensive report on Menotti’s upbringing and football career, through which he was known for his love of comprehensive attacking football, which was his means of winning the “1978 World Cup” title and the “U-20” World Youth Cup in 1979. This is the tournament in which the star of the “magician” Maradona shone, and after that Menotti led the Barcelona team to win the “treble in 1983”, which was the Spanish King’s Cup, the La Liga Cup and the Super Cup.
The largest international media outlets reported the news of the departure of the “legendary Argentine”, the owner of a “charismatic personality” on a humanitarian level, and a “distinguished school” in the world of football, as Spanish newspapers were “proactive” as usual by placing Cesar’s picture on their covers, with the title “Goodbye, Menotti.” » Through the newspapers “Sport” and “Mundo Deportivo”, and “Marca” wrote that the Argentine legend died at the age of 85, and his picture appeared on the cover of the Italian “Corriere dello Sport” with the title “Argentina in mourning”, and its compatriot “La Gazzetta” published a report about him. Titled “The Leftist Who Has Dictatorship Victory!”
The Spanish newspaper “Marca” dealt with the news of the death of the international legend in its own way, as it published a video clip of him during one of his press interviews with her earlier, entitled “Menotti’s Confessions,” which carried a lot of his own philosophy, as he said that football is played with the ball and without it, A reference to the movements of players without the ball, marking, pressure, and similar deep technical matters, which characterized his offensive training style, which seeks continuous pressure and complete possession of the ball. He also talked about the fact that everyone is looking for victory to become a champion or avoid relegation and stay away from the top, and these are aspirations.” Great” for everyone who works in football, but “ordinary” people accompany success and never ask themselves about its reasons.
Menotti believed earlier that the “generation of 1978” had an “invincible” team that could not be compared to any other generation in Argentina. When asked if he wished to repeat the first “Albiceleste” achievement, he answered that although he was crowned champion with his players at that time, he did not want to Trying it again, he described football as a “real culture” and not just a “game.” He also described himself as a “fighter” in the world of football, in reference to his intellectual and political orientations in that ancient era, and for this reason it was not strange for him to announce earlier that “Barcelona with Guardiola” is the best he has ever seen in football, and he described “Pep” as the “Che Guevara” of football, where the “revolutionary” Guardiola insists on sticking to his way and style, and achieves victory without ever changing his way of playing.
Aside from his confessions in his old interview with Marca, Menotti’s history is full of many controversies, including the anecdote of his official date of birth on November 5, 1938, which revealed its incorrectness, confirming that he was born on October 22 of the same year, but his father officially registered it. After nearly two weeks, due to the circumstances of his travel, he commented sarcastically that his father might have said at the time, “What are we going to do with this child? Let’s wait and see.” He was known for adopting leftist thought, but he led the “Albiceleste” to win the 1978 World Cup, amid political circumstances that contradicted his idea and maintained controversy. Exciting to this day.
Menotti’s statements always carried a “very special character”, including his insistence on Pele’s excellence and uniqueness throughout the ages, even if the comparison came between him and his compatriots, Maradona and Messi, before he returned and confirmed that the “flea” would be the “fifth king” of football if he succeeded in winning the title. The World Cup, after the quartet of Di Stefano, Pele, Cruyff and Maradona, which was already after “Leo” was crowned with the 2022 World Cup, which Menotti described as a creditable achievement for coach Scaloni, despite his fierce attack on the national team in 2017, saying that Argentine football had become a “laughing stock.” The world” and it became like a “circus”.
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