Alejandro Sabella
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alejandro Javier Sabella | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 5 November 1954 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 8 December 2020 | (aged 66)||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
1974–1978 | River Plate | 117 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
1978–1980 | Sheffield United | 76 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
1980–1981 | Leeds United | 23 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
1982–1987 | Estudiantes (LP) | 149 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
1985 |
→ Grêmio (loan ) | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
1987–1988 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 27 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
1988–1989 |
Irapuato | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Total | 433 | (33) | |||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||
1983–1984 | Argentina | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
1995 | Qatar U20 | ||||||||||||||||
2009–2011 | Estudiantes | ||||||||||||||||
2011–2014 | Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Alejandro Javier Sabella (locally
After retiring from playing, Sabella became a coach and began a long association with fellow countryman and close friend
Sabella died on 8 December 2020, due to an infection caught during a stay in hospital.
Playing career
Early life and career
Alejandro Sabella was born to a middle-class family in Buenos Aires' well-off Palermo neighborhood. [1] [2][3][4] He was an excellent student at school, and was admitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, but his career as a football player eventually forced him to abandon his studies.[4] As a young man Sabella was politically active in the left-wing Peronist Youth and worked to aid the urban poor in the slums. He stated, "I felt a growing need to be always on the side of solidarity and of the distribution of wealth for a fairer, more egalitarian society, in which we can all have equal opportunities."[4]
As a footballer, Sabella rose through the junior divisions of
Sheffield United
Second Division side Sheffield United had tried to sign Diego Maradona from Argentinos Juniors. However, the club decided that Maradona was too expensive,[6] and instead turned to Sabella, who they signed for £160,000 on 19 July 1978.[7] Known as Alex while in England,[6] Sabella made his debut for the Blades in a 2–1 defeat against Leyton Orient on 19 August 1978.[7]
Sabella played for United until 1980, scoring eight league goals in 76 appearances. After relegation to the
Leeds United and return to Argentina
During the close season, Sabella was sold to Leeds United for £400,000. He played for Leeds without much success between 1980 and 1981, making 23 appearances and scoring two goals.[7] John Lukic used to give him a lift to training and matches from Sabella's digs in Sheffield.
In December 1981, Sabella started looking for an Argentine club and was eventually sold to Estudiantes de La Plata. Under coach Carlos Bilardo, the team reached the semi-finals of the 1982 Nacional tournament (Sabella was injured in the first semi-final match against Quilmes). Subsequently, Sabella, together with Marcelo Trobbiani, José Daniel Ponce and Miguel Ángel Russo, made up the solid midfield of the Estudiantes team that went on to win two back-to-back championship titles.
When Bilardo was put in charge of the Argentina national team, Sabella competed for his place with veterans Norberto Alonso and Ricardo Bochini, as well as younger players like Carlos Daniel Tapia, Jorge Burruchaga and Diego Maradona. Sabella played eight times for the national team, playing in all four games in the 1983 Copa América and in four friendlies; against Chile in May 1983 (as substitute), Paraguay in July 1983, Brazil in June 1984 and Uruguay in July 1984.[8]
Later career
The Argentine midfielder then moved to
Managerial career
Early career
After retirement, Sabella became a coach, but worked mostly as field assistant for
On 15 March 2009, Sabella became coach of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the 2009 Copa Libertadores. On 2 February 2011, he announced his resignation. Due to protestations from the team's players and management, he agreed to reconsider his decision,[9] but made it final the following day.[10] He officially resigned on 3 February 2011.
Argentina
After Argentina's early exit at the
2014 World Cup
In the
Argentina never trailed during the whole tournament until the final. They won all three of their group games, where Lionel Messi scored all four of his goals against
Sabella officially resigned on 30 July 2014.[18]
Managerial statistics
- As of 14 November 2014
Team | From | To | Record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | Ref. | |||
Estudiantes | 15 March 2009[19] | 3 February 2011[19] | 97 | 58 | 21 | 18 | 151 | 69 | +82 | 59.79 | [20][21][22] |
Argentina | 2 August 2011[12] | 30 July 2014[18] | 40 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 74 | 32 | +42 | 62.50 | [23][24][25][26] |
Total | 137 | 83 | 31 | 23 | 225 | 101 | +124 | 60.58 | — |
Political views and public image
Sabella was interested in politics and history and had strong political views. He was a left-wing Peronist, and believed that "the state needs to be present to regulate politics and mark the path. We can't wait for the trickle-down effect to overflow, because that is a lie."[4] In an interview he gave to La Garganta Poderosa, an Argentine alternative media outlet, he posed before a chalkboard with a "Dream Team" made up not of football players, but left-wing activists who have been killed or have gone missing since the return of democracy in 1983, many of them young victims of police violence.[4]
Death
Sabella was admitted to hospital on 25 November 2020 with cardiac problems. He caught a virus in hospital, and died on 8 December 2020. He was 66 years old.[27]
Honours
Player
River Plate
- 1977 Metropolitano
- Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1976
Estudiantes (LP)
- 1983 Nacional
Grêmio
Manager
Estudiantes (LP)
- Copa Libertadores: 2009
- Primera División: 2010 Apertura
- FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2009
- Recopa Sudamericana runner-up: 2010
Argentina
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2014
Notes
- ^ "442 | Sabella, un muchacho de Palermo". Archived from the original on 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Sabella, un militante peronista en una familia antiperonista".
- ^ "Alejandro Sabella: El peronismo, su infancia de Boca y las cábalas más extrañas".
- ^ a b c d e "For Alejandro Sabella and Argentina, a tangled political past looms large". Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ "Sabella joins Pincha pantheon". FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ a b "World Cup 2014: Alejandro Sabella – Bramall Lane to Brazil". BBC Sport. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
- ^ "Welcome to the US Petabox". Archived from [Soccer: The International Line-ups & Statistics Series – Argentina 1971–1997; Statistics – RG Hope-Smith; Editor Michael Robinson the original] on 13 July 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ "Sabella: "Me voy a tomar hasta mañana para decidir si sigo", Estudiantes, Sabella, Country, Pachorra, Copa Libertadores. Deportes, 02 de febrero de 2011, Diario El Día, La Plata, Argentina". Eldia.com.ar. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "Sabella dijo adiós y quedan muchos interrogantes abiertos, Sabella, Estudiantes, Pincha, Mar, Plata. Deportes, 04 de febrero de 2011, Diario El Día, La Plata, Argentina". Eldia.com.ar. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "AFP: Argentina appoint Sabella as new coach". 28 July 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Argentina confirm Sabella appointment". ESPN Soccernet. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ "Ex-Estudiantes boss Alejandro Sabella tipped for Argentina job – ESPN Soccernet". Soccernet.espn.go.com. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "Messi named Argentina captain". ESPN Soccernet. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ Tighe, Sam. "Germany vs. Argentina: Sabella's Substitutes Surrender the Match to Low". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ Sargeant, Jack (13 July 2014). "Argentina's coach screwed up the World Cup final". SBNation.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ "Simeone – Sabella made all the right moves but it was Germany's time | Fan Ambassadors | ONE STADIUM". fan.football.sony.net. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ a b Rothwell, Eliot (30 July 2014). "Alejandro Sabella resigns as Argentina manager following World Cup final defeat". The Mirror. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Estudiantes » Manager history". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Estudiantes » Fixtures & Results 2008/2009". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Estudiantes » Fixtures & Results 2009/2010". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Estudiantes » Fixtures & Results 2010/2011". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Argentina » Fixtures & Results 2011". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Argentina » Fixtures & Results 2012". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Argentina » Fixtures & Results 2013". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Argentina » Fixtures & Results 2014". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Murió Alejandro Sabella, un símbolo de la sobriedad y la jerarquía en la elite del fútbol". 8 December 2020.
External links
- Profile and tactical analysis in (in Portuguese)