Alejandro Sabella · Biography

Alejandro Sabella made his debut in the Argentine top flight with River Plate in 1974, the club where he had come through the youth ranks. Born in Buenos Aires on 5 November 1954, he was a left-footed attacking midfielder with an unhurried style, which earned him the nickname «Pachorra». Later he was known as «the Professor». As a coach he won the 2009 Copa Libertadores with Estudiantes de La Plata and took the Argentina national team to the 2014 World Cup final.

Early years at River Plate

Sabella played for River from 1974 to 1978, making 118 appearances and scoring 11 goals. It was a successful period for the Buenos Aires club, which ended a long title drought by winning both the Metropolitano and the Nacional in 1975, then took the Metropolitano again in 1977. River also reached the 1976 Copa Libertadores final, which they lost. Competition for places in midfield was fierce, and Sabella moved between the starting line-up and the bench until he accepted an offer from English football in 1978.

The English years

On 19 July 1978 he joined Sheffield United for a fee of £160,000. His debut came on 19 August that year, a 2-1 defeat to Leyton Orient. He spent two seasons in Sheffield, with 76 appearances and 8 goals, and in 1980 Leeds United paid £400,000 to sign him. At Leeds he made 27 appearances and scored twice before returning to Argentina.

Estudiantes, Grêmio and retirement

In 1982 he joined Estudiantes de La Plata, the club that would shape the rest of his career. He was part of the side that won the 1982 Metropolitano and the 1983 Nacional, back-to-back titles built on a passing midfield. In those years he was called up by Argentina. In 1985 he went on loan to Grêmio of Porto Alegre and won the Campeonato Gaúcho in 1985 and 1986. He then went back to Estudiantes, where he played 171 games and scored 34 goals across his two spells. He later played for Ferro Carril Oeste (1987-1988) and Mexico's Irapuato (1988-1989), where he retired.

Assistant to Daniel Passarella

After retiring he spent almost two decades as assistant to Daniel Passarella, a former River teammate. He worked with him at River from 1990 to 1994 and with Argentina from 1994 to 1998, a period that included the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a quarter-final at the 1998 World Cup in France. He stayed with him at Parma (2001-2003), Monterrey (2002-2003), Corinthians (2005) and at River again in 2006-2007.

South American champion with Estudiantes

In March 2009, aged 54, he took his first job as a head coach, at Estudiantes. Within four months he had led Juan Sebastián Verón’s team to the Copa Libertadores final against Cruzeiro. After a goalless first leg in La Plata, Estudiantes won 2-1 in Belo Horizonte on 15 July 2009 to lift their fourth Libertadores. That December, in Abu Dhabi, they lost the Club World Cup final 2-1 to FC Barcelona after extra time. In 2010 Estudiantes were runners-up in the Recopa Sudamericana and won the 2010 Torneo Apertura. Sabella left the job in February 2011.

Argentina coach and the 2014 World Cup

In August 2011, after the Copa América hosted by Argentina, the national federation appointed him head coach. His first match was a 1-0 win over Venezuela in Kolkata. He made Lionel Messi captain and built the team around him, with Higuaín, Agüero and Di María in attack. Argentina finished top of the South American qualifying group for the World Cup in Brazil. At the tournament they beat the Netherlands on penalties in the semi-final (0-0, 4-2 in the shoot-out) on 9 July 2014 in São Paulo, reaching their first World Cup final since 1990. On 13 July, at the Maracanã, they lost 1-0 to Germany to a Mario Götze goal in the 113th minute of extra time. Sabella stepped down on 30 July 2014 and never coached again.

He was admitted to hospital in Buenos Aires on 25 November 2020 with heart problems and died in the city on 8 December 2020.