Daniel Passarella

Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former footballer and manager, who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time.

He started his career at Sarmiento of Junín, Buenos Aires in 1971.

He played there until 1973, when he joined River Plate.

Playing for Los Millonarios, he was constantly starting to be called up to the Argentina national team.

As a player for Argentina, he was part of two FIFA World Cup–winning teams; he captained his nation to victory at the 1978 World Cup which Argentina hosted, and was also part of the winning squad in 1986.

Although playing as a centre-back, Passarella was also a proficient goalscorer; at one point, he was football's highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record which was subsequently broken by Dutch player Ronald Koeman.

As one of the pillars of the Argentina national football team, he would captain the team during the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina.

He was the first Argentine player to hold the World Cup, as it was handed to him first when Argentina won the final.

As the Argentina team head, Passarella had appointed a close friend and a fellow 1978 world champion, Américo Gallego, as his assistant coach.

He banned long hair, earrings and homosexuals in the national team, leading to disputes with several players.

Fernando Redondo and Claudio Caniggia eventually refused to play for Passarella and were excluded from his squad.

After his good performances at the 1982 World Cup, he joined Serie A side Fiorentina in the summer of 1982.

At the Italian club, he scored 11 goals during the 1985–86 season, a record for a defender at the time, although the goal tally was surpassed by Marco Materazzi in the 2000–01 season.

In 1986, he joined Internazionale, where he ended his Italian playing career in 1988.

After his successful spell in the Serie A, he returned to River Plate, where he played until his retirement.

He was called "El Gran Capitán" ('the Great Captain', the nickname of the Argentinian independence hero, José de San Martín),"El Kaiser" (an allusion to German defender Franz Beckenbauer) or "El Caudillo" ('the Chief') because of his leadership ability, his passion, and his organisational prowess on the field.

He was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays.

He was the all-time highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record that was later broken by Dutch player Ronald Koeman.

His aerial game was effective both defensively and in attack.

Despite his average height of 1.73 m, he frequently scored headers.

He was also a noted free-kick and penalty specialist.

Furthermore, he was known for using elbows against rivals whilst managing to avoid the referee's gaze.

During the qualifying rounds of the 1986 World Cup, Passarella contributed to the goal which ensured Argentina's qualification in the final minutes of their match against Peru by allowing teammate Ricardo Gareca to score.

A bout of enterocolitis caused him to miss the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

He was replaced in the first team by defender José Luis Brown and failed to regain his place after recovering from illness.

Passarella had a fractious relationship with captain Diego Maradona and coach Carlos Bilardo during the tournament.

He later claimed Bilardo and Maradona made certain that he was sidelined; although he is the first and so far only player to feature in two Argentina World Cupwinning squads, he did not play any of the matches in 1986, not even as a substitute.

After the end of his playing career, he returned to River Plate as a manager and guided them to three national championships, in 1989–90, 1991 and 1993.

Thereafter, Passarella was appointed as the coach of the Argentina national team in 1994, replacing Alfio Basile.

He was in charge of the team during the 1998 World Cup qualification campaign and later the competition itself, which was held in France.

Argentina's performances never reached the expected heights during the 1998 World Cup; the team was eliminated in the quarter-final after a last minute 2–1 defeat to the Netherlands.

After the elimination, Passarella left the post and was replaced by compatriot Marcelo Bielsa.

Afterwards, Passarella had a brief and unsuccessful stint as the coach of Italian side Parma in 2001, where he was ultimately sacked after losing all of his five matches.

Subsequently, Passarella became the manager of the Uruguay national team, the first foreigner to take the job of Uruguay team, but he left the post during the 2002 World Cup qualification process.

In 2004, Passarella was named one of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pelé at a FIFA awards ceremony.

In 2007, The Times placed him at 36th in their list of the 50 hardest footballers in history.

After his playing and coaching career, Passarella also served as the president of River Plate for four years, after winning the elections in December 2009.

Passarella was born in Chacabuco, Buenos Aires.

In 2017, he was named as the 56th best player by FourFourTwo in their list of the 100 all-time greatest footballers.

As a manager, he coached the Argentina and Uruguay national teams, among several club sides.