Alejandro Javier Sabella was a professional Argentine footballer and manager. He was born on November 5, 1954, into a wealthy middle-class family in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Alejandro Javier Sabella began his football career after he had quit his academic career as a professional lawyer. He was an excellent student at school
and was admitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, but his career as a football player eventually forced him to abandon his studies. He joined the River Plate B in 1970 as an attacking midfielder but face difficult competition from Norberto Alonso until Alonso exited to Marseille.
Alejandro Sabella helped River Plate to with their first title after 18 years in 1975. He played a key role when River won the 1977 Metropolitano championship but when Norberto Alonso returned from Marseille, he was demoted to the bench. He was transferred to Sheffield United in 1978 for £16,000 and scored 8 goals in 76 games but Sheffield United was relegated to the third division. Alejandro Sabella was again transferred to Leeds United but could not live up to expectations and returned to Argentina.
Alejandro Sabella Tactics
Alejandro Sabella was appointed the head coach of the Argentine national team after they were booted from the 2011 Copa America. He named Lionel Messi as the new Captain during his stay with the national team. His formation and tactics were the 4-3-3 formation to give Lionel Messi a free role to move freely on the pitch for others to accommodate him. These tactics helped Lionel Messi to finish second in the CONMEBOL qualifying scoring list with 10 goals, second only to Luis Suarez.
He managed to reach the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup for the first time since Argentina passed the quarter-final in 1990. Argentina won all their games and only won against the Netherlands on penalties. They defeated Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, Switzerland and Iran.
Mario Gotze’s only goal for Germany ended the dream of Alejandro and his men from winning the ultimate prize.
Alejandro Sabella’s death
Alejandro Sabella died on December 8, 2020, due to an intra-hospital virus which aggravated a heart disease two weeks after Diego Maradona died. During his playing career, Alejandro Sabella’s nicknames were el Mago “the Magician” and Pachorra ”Sloth”.