Argentina are marching on to theWorld Cup final led byLionel Messi, but their coaching staff is well-stocked with some legendary names in Argentine football
Ex-teammate & current coach. Okay, calling Lionel Scaloni a legend is a stretch but he still carved out a decent career for himself playing as a right-back for a bunch of Argentinian, Italian and English clubs. Fun fact – Scaloni and Messi were part of Argentina’s squad at World Cup 2006.
Messi’s idol. Argentina gafferLionel Scaloni is directly assisted by Pablo Aimar. We’ve seen himweep for joy at this World Cup after Messi scored against Australia. Leo once named the former Valencia star as one of his childhood idols. No wonder – he was a like a demo version of Messi, a no.10 capable of dribbling and passing the ball with the eye for goal who was also a free-kick specialist. Despite talent in abundance, Aimar struggled with injuries throughout his career.
Former Madridista. Another assistant of Scaloni is Walter Samuel. The ex-defender played 40 games forReal Madrid between 2004 and 2005 before moving toInter Milan where he won the Champions League. His playing career was a huge success.
Legendary defender. Scaloni’s third assistant coach is the legendary Roberto Ayala. The 49-year-old played 115 games for Argentina, captaining his country in a record 63 matches before his retirement in 2011. He won La Liga twice with Valencia and the Serie A with Milan.
In his post-match interview after the Croatia win, Messi praised the Argentina coaching staff saying: “We have a very good coaching staff. Everything they analyse in the games ends up happening.”
It’s not hard to see why Argentina keep excelling – seated on their technical bench are some of the best football minds ever to play the game for Argentina.