It is hard to imagine that in a country as passionate about football as Argentina, the public could laugh at a player who once won the world championship trophy for the Albiceleste; even more if he did it twice. That is the great paradox of Daniel Alberto Passarella.
The only albiceleste footballer who can boast of winning two World Cups (1978 and 1986) and who has also become a player, coach and president of River Plate, returns this Sunday to the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, where in the middle of the military dictatorship (1976-1983) was the first Argentine in history to win the coveted trophy.
As a two-time world champion, he will be on the field of Núñez together with Franco Armani, the only member of the ‘Scaloneta’ who plays in local football, to receive from the stands the tributes that will be addressed to the players who, like him, hit the football heaven in Argentina 1978, Mexico 1986 and Qatar 2022 while wearing the ‘millionaire’ shirt.
But, and here is the paradox, an important part of that audience could shout at whoever coached the Argentinian and Uruguayan teams and clubs like Italy’s Parma, Mexico’s Monterrey or Brazil’s Corinthians.
The same Passarella who brought them glory as defender of River Plate, winner of the national championship in 1975, 1979 and 1981 and as a ‘millionaire’ coach, winner of the First Division 1989-90 and the Apertura Tournament 1991 and 1993, signed, as president , the worst page in the history of the Buenos Aires club.
Despite taking the Albiceleste to the top of the football Olympia along with Mario Alberto Kempes in 1978 and Diego Armando Maradona in 1986, many River Plate fans cannot forget that he was the relegation chairman.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
