Argentina are marching on to the World Cup final led by Lionel Messi, but their coaching staff is well-stocked with some legendary names in Argentine football
Messi’s idol: Argentina gaffer Lionel Scaloni is directly assisted by Pablo Aimer. We’ve seen him weep for joy at this World Cup after Messi scored against Australia. Messi once named the former Benfica forward as one of his childhood idols.
Former Madridista: Another assistant of Scaloni is Walter Samuel. The ex-defender played 40 games for Real Madrid between 2004 and 2005 before moving to Inter 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 over 110 games for Argentina 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.