Remembering Cesar Luis Menotti on his 80th birthday
Photo credit: La Capital
During the military regime of Jorge Videla in Argentina, after the Peron dictatorship, there was a character that stood above in one of the most challenging times of the South American country.
He was a hard critique of the regime, even when his job was inside a football pitch. Publicly known as “El Flaco” because of his tall height and slender physique, he always showed an earnest demeanor that illustrated knowledge. He wore a suit and tie and kept his hands busy holding a cigarette.
On June 25, 1978, in the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, after the referee ended the 90 minutes of the World Cup match tied 1-1 between Argentina and the Netherlands, Cesar Luis Menotti stood up from the bench at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, went to the sideline and talked to his players.
“These guys can never knock us down. What are they? Dutch! We are Argentinian! They eat Chucrut. We eat chorizo steak,” exclaimed Menotti in a DIRECTV Sports Argentina segment. Even unorthodox words always made sense when “El Flaco” Menotti spoke his mind. As a result, Argentina won the World Cup in extra time. Mario Alberto Kempes and Daniel Bertoni gave the first of two world championships to the Albicelestes.
Menotti and the Argentinian squad granted happiness to a nation that needed an excuse to smile again, to feel joy and forget about the regime that was oppressing the people. But his mission didn’t stop at the age of 39 after achieving that World Cup. His love of the game transformed him into a football mastermind.
“I am in love with the things that I want. I was a soccer player that was dreaming with a ball, as someone else dreams with a guitar.” Menotti described in Spanish to DIRECTV Sports Argentina when asked if it was hard to be who he was. “I dreamed to live my happiness, and my happiness was to play football. I was born in the pitch and I learned everything on it.”
“El Flaco” always thought of football as a spectacle directed to the masses and supported by the masses. Also, as “a cultural event where players can express themselves through the beauty of the sport,” as he told DIRECTV Sports Argentina.
In the interview, Menotti described a team as an “idea, an engagement and a clear conviction to defend that idea.” However, not everyone triumphs in the soccer world because not every idea makes sense. People are confused with modern tactics and results, but “El Flaco” always viewed the tactical aspect of the game as something pragmatic and geographical because football is about unexpected actions.
“You can elaborate a tactic for one match, but if something unexpected happens, fuck the tactic,” he added. “Football can’t be computerized — the idea that a coach needs to be supported by assuming the responsibility of the players’ growth through knowledge.”
A lover of challenges and risks, Menotti criticized the philosophy of winning at all costs. The ways matter in the most beautiful game in the world, that’s why people like Johan Cruyff, Rinus Michels and Pep Guardiola were inseparable with Menotti’s concepts.
“When football is played the right way, like painting, like music, it tends to be something beautiful. And if that idea is not sustained, it vanishes,” Menotti told El Heraldo in Spanish.
As publicly stated, “El Flaco” used to have long chats with this three prominent managers, which coincidentally marked the beginning of an intellectual revolution in soccer.
Menotti lived in five different countries as a manager: Spain, Argentina, Italy, Mexico and Uruguay. He coached teams like Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo, Rosario Central, Huracan, the Mexican national team and many more.
“El Flaco” published several books and he writes a column every Tuesday that is shared in many international media outlets. He is one of the greatest exponents of contemporary soccer. He is a believer that money will not impact the sport until the players decide to ignore the nature of the game.
“The player should enter to the field feeling that his or her soul represents the passion of the public that supports the business of the sport,” Menotti mentioned to El Heraldo as he drew a comparison between the essence of football and music. “I don’t care how much money Joan Manuel Serrat, a Spanish singer and songwriter, makes. What I care about is that he believes the lyrics that he wrote.”
Cesar Luis Menotti recently turned 80. For many coaches, media and players, his thoughts and knowledge are a philosophy. While “El Flaco” humbly downplays his own importance, football is so grateful for having a revolutionary character like Menotti: wise, sober, straightforward, poetic and unique.
Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.
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