Cesar Luis Menotti, the charismatic coach who led Argentina to its inaugural World Cup victory in 1978, has died, the Argentine Football Association said Sunday. He was 85.
In its statement, the association bid farewell with a heartfelt "Goodbye, dear Flaco!" – a tribute to Menotti’s endearing nickname, meaning "the thin one."
Details surrounding his passing were not disclosed by the association. However, according to local media accounts, Menotti had been hospitalized in March due to severe anemia. He later underwent surgery for phlebitis in April before returning home.
Menotti, known for his passion for football and his ability to explain its mechanics, was considered one of the most emblematic and influential coaches in Argentine football.
He was a political activist and an affiliate member of the Argentine Communist Party, a boxing fan, and an admirer of the works of Latin American writers Mario Benedetti, Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Sabato and Joan Manuel Serrat, among others.
"Once I was interviewed by Borges, and when I asked him if it bothered him that I smoked, he told me: ‘What intoxicates me is not the cigarette, but the stupid conversations,’" Menotti recalled in one of his last interviews.
"So, I asked about everything ... but not about football, because I know about football!" he added.
He began his career as a player for Rosario Central (1960-1963 and 1967), then played for Racing Club (1964) and Boca Juniors (1965-1966), all Argentine clubs. Menotti also played for the New York Generals in the U.S. (1967), followed by Brazil’s Santos (1968) and Italy’s Juventus (1969-1970).
At Santos, he played alongside Pele, whom he never hesitated to qualify as the best player among legends.
Menotti coached Argentina's national team between 1974 and 1983. He believed the side did not receive the recognition it deserved when it won the World Cup in 1978 because the country was ruled by a military junta responsible for widespread human rights violations. His detractors often recalled a photo in which Menotti, after the World Cup victory, shook hands with Jorge Rafael Videla, head of the military junta.
On the eve of the World Cup, Menotti left a 17-year-old Maradona off the squad - a decision that soured their relations for years, the coach later said.
Menotti coached Mexico’s national team in 1991-1992. He also led Barcelona (1983-1984), where he had Maradona on his squad; Atletico Madrid (1987-88); Uruguay’s Peñarol (1990-91); Italy’s Sampdoria (1997) and Mexico’s Tecos (2007) – his last coaching job.
For years, Menotti often had a cigarette hanging between his lips, but he mostly quit the habit in 2011 following a three-day hospitalization stemming from his tobacco addiction.
He was also known for wearing his hair long but neat. He said he didn't rely on hairdressers. "I cut my own hair. I take the scissors, I cut the ends."
Menotti began leaving his hair long in the early 1970s. "One day I said to myself: ‘I won’t cut my hair until we lose.’ And we went 10 games undefeated, so it all started as a joke," he said.
In his later years, Menotti said he didn't fear death. "It’s the only thing I’m sure of. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t died at some point," he said in 2014.