César Luis Menotti, coach of the 1978 home world champion Argentina team, has died at the age of 85, the National Football Federation (AFA) announced on Sunday on its X account (formerly Twitter) . “The Argentine Football Federation regrets to announce with deep sadness the death of Luis César Menotti, the director of the national selections and former world champion coach,” writes the AFA on the social network.
Menotti was hospitalized in March in a Buenos Aires hospital for a “severe case of anemia” and was released in mid-April. The cause of death has not yet been announced, but according to Argentine media, César Menotti died on Sunday “of stomach cancer.”
The 78 World Cup, the peak of Menotti’s career
Born in Rosario, Menotti was a professional player in the 1960s and then embarked on a coaching career, winning an Argentine championship title with Buenos Aires-based club Huracan in 1973. He then took charge the national team he led to world title in 1978 and which he still led during the 82 World Cup in Spain (elimination in the 2nd round).
Landing after the Spanish World Cup, he then frequented the major Argentinean clubs (Boca Juniors, River Plate) and Spanish clubs (FC Barcelona with Diego Maradona, Atlético Madrid), but his record was only enriched by a Spanish King’s Cup. , a Spanish Super Cup and a Spanish League Cup, a competition since defunct, with Barça in 1983. His former clubs Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona, as well as the Spanish Federation, paid tribute to him on leaving the message “rest in peace”.