Daniel Passarella


Daniel Alberto Passarella is an Argentine former footballer and manager, who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time. As a player for Argentina, he was part of two FIFA World Cup-winning teams; he captained his nation to victory at the 1978 [FIFA World Cup|1978 World Cup] which Argentina hosted, and was also part of the winning squad in 1986.He was the only Argentine player to win two world cups.
Although playing as a centre-back, Passarella was also a proficient goalscorer; at one point, he was football's highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record which was subsequently broken by Dutch player Ronald Koeman. In 2004, Passarella was named one of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pelé at a FIFA awards ceremony. In 2007, The Times placed him at 36th in their list of the 50 hardest footballers in history, recalling that he "tackled with the ferocity of the wild bull of the Pampas". In 2017, he was named as the 56th best player by FourFourTwo in their list of the 100 all-time greatest footballers. As a manager, he coached the Argentina and Uruguay national teams, among several club sides.
After his playing and coaching career, Passarella also served as the president of River Plate for four years, after winning the elections in December 2009.

Club career

Passarella was born in Chacabuco, Buenos Aires. He started his career at Sarmiento of Junín, Buenos Aires, in 1971. He played there until 1973, when he joined River Plate. Playing for Los Millonarios, he was constantly starting to be called up to the Argentina national team.
After his good performances at the 1982 World Cup, he joined Serie A side Fiorentina in the summer of 1982. At the Italian club, he scored 11 goals during the 1985–86 season, a record for a defender at the time, although the goal tally was surpassed by Marco Materazzi in the 2000–01 season.
In 1986, he joined Internazionale, where he ended his Italian playing career in 1988. After his successful spell in the Serie A, he returned to River Plate, where he played until his retirement.
He was called "El Gran Capitán",''"El Kaiser" or "El Caudillo"'' because of his leadership ability, his passion, and his organisational prowess on the field. He was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays. He was the all-time highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record that was later broken by Dutch player Ronald Koeman.
His aerial game was effective both defensively and in attack. Despite his average height of 1.73 m, he frequently scored headers. He was also a noted free-kick and penalty specialist. Furthermore, he was known for using elbows against rivals whilst managing to avoid the referee's gaze.

International career

file:Passarella copa mundo.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Passarella holding the World Cup Trophy">Football World Cup">World Cup Trophy after the 1978 [FIFA World Cup Final|1978 final]
As one of the pillars of the Argentina national football team, he would captain the team during the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina. He was the first Argentine player to hold the World Cup, as it was handed to him first when Argentina won the final.
During the qualifying rounds of the 1986 World Cup, Passarella contributed to the goal which ensured Argentina's qualification in the final minutes of their match against Peru by allowing teammate Ricardo Gareca to score.
A bout of enterocolitis caused him to miss the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was replaced in the first team by defender José Luis Brown and failed to regain his place after recovering from illness. Passarella had a fractious relationship with captain Diego Maradona and coach Carlos Bilardo during the tournament. He later claimed Bilardo and Maradona made certain that he was sidelined; although he is the first and so far only player to feature in two Argentina World Cup–winning squads, he did not play any of the matches in 1986, not even as a substitute.

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career, he returned to River Plate as a manager and guided them to three national championships, in 1989–90, 1991 and 1993. Thereafter, Passarella was appointed as the coach of the Argentina national team in 1994, replacing Alfio Basile. He was in charge of the team during the 1998 World Cup qualification campaign and later the competition itself, which was held in France. As the Argentina team head, Passarella had appointed a close friend and a fellow 1978 world champion, Américo Gallego, as his assistant coach. He banned long hair, earrings and homosexuals in the national team, leading to disputes with several players. Fernando Redondo and Claudio Caniggia, two of the most talented Argentine players of that generation, eventually refused to play for Passarella and were excluded from his squad.
Argentina's performances never reached the expected heights during the 1998 World Cup; the team was eliminated in the quarter-final after a last minute 2–1 defeat to the Netherlands. After the elimination, Passarella left the post and was replaced by compatriot Marcelo Bielsa. Subsequently, Passarella became the manager of the Uruguay national team, the first foreigner to take the job of Uruguay team, but he left the post during the 2002 World Cup qualification process. Afterwards, Passarella had a brief and unsuccessful stint as the coach of Italian side Parma in 2001, where, despite success in the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia, he was ultimately sacked after losing all of his five matches in the league, with the club sitting in the relegation zone.
In 2003, he won the Mexican league title with Monterrey. In March 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers. He was then hired as coach of Corinthians in Brazil, but was fired after a few months after a spell of bad results.
On 9 January 2006, he was appointed River Plate coach again after 12 years to occupy the vacancy left by Reinaldo Merlo's sudden departure. On 15 November 2007, he resigned as coach after River was beaten by penalties by Arsenal de Sarandí in the semi-final of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana.
In the summer of 2018, after publicly expressing interest in returning he was widely seen as the frontrunner to become the new manager of Monterrey for a second stint after the departure of Antonio Mohamed but the club ultimately decided to appoint Diego Alonso.

Administrative career

Passarella was elected as president of River Plate in December 2009. The club was in poor financial shape when Passarella took charge. River Plate were relegated for the first time in the club's 110-year history in 2011. Passarella was alleged to have engaged in fraud during his presidency.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
128 October 1976Lima, Peru2–13–1Friendly
210 November 1976José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–01–0Friendly
35 June 1977La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–31–3Friendly
418 June 1977La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–11–1Friendly
53 July 1977La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–01–0Friendly
623 March 1978Nacional, Lima, Peru2–03–1Friendly
75 April 1978La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–02–0Friendly
85 April 1978La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–02–0Friendly
96 June 1978Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti|Monumental], Buenos Aires, Argentina1–02–11978 FIFA World Cup
1025 April 1979Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–12–1Friendly
1126 May 1979Olimpico, Rome, Italy2–22–2Friendly
128 August 1979Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–03–01979 Copa América
1323 August 1979Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–12–21979 Copa América
1416 September 1979Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade, Yugoslavia1–32–4Friendly
1513 May 1980Wembley Stadium, London, England1–21–3Friendly
1612 October 1980Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–02–1Friendly
1716 December 1980Olímpico Chateau Carreras, Córdoba, Argentina5–05–0Friendly
1828 October 1981Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina1–01–2Friendly
195 May 1982José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–12–1Friendly
2023 June 1982José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain1–02–01982 FIFA World Cup
2129 June 1982Sarrià, Barcelona, Spain1–21–21982 FIFA World Cup
2226 May 1985Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela2–13–21986 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Player

River Plate
Argentina Youth
Argentina
Individual

Manager

River Plate
Monterrey
Argentina
Individual

President

River Plate