César Menotti: “The secret of this team is that it plays football and it makes me happy that it respects history”

Director of national teams. Pompous title. He doesn’t give a ball. She laughs when he reminds her. And he doesn’t even give a text to put it out there. César Luis Menotti must be entered from another side. For football. The ball. Players. What surrounds football and the ball. The leaders, the projects, the press. For El Flaco it is the same world, an infinite universe.

-The Selection has reached the final. Did you expect it?

-You play for that, you don’t expect it. Then there are circumstances that put you in a certain position and I think the national team has earned that place in the final well.

Did you think this could happen?

-I was very confident because I saw how they worked, but above all because I saw beforehand what the relationship with the technical staff was like. And then because of how that relationship was transferred to the players and how the relationship between them came about.

-Like? Is it possible to reach a world final with only good vibes?

-Obviously not. The secret of this team is that they play football and it makes me happy that they respect history. Everything else helps, creates a climate, pushes. Look at the players… You can see that there is friendship and commitment with the team, with the national team. This makes me enjoy the World Cup, beyond Sunday’s result. We have arrived here despite the discrepancies that are always there, but from the AFA to the latest arrival, that commitment that I speak of is noticeable.

-Okay, but then we need to talk about the game. How does the team play?

-Plays well. And playing well is managing the four actions that football has, we don’t want to invent anything… He defends, recovers, exploits and defines himself. There is nothing else. And you have to do everything at the same time, handle these four situations well. Then, well… The imponderables can appear that can change a game and a result, but the idea is affirmed in the team. Defend in the area and you have to know how to defend yourself because if you make a mistake in the area it’s a penalty. Especially now with this VAR thing. And you have to know how to recover, where, at what time, which rival to go under pressure. And the same with pregnancy and definition. The problem is when you are missing something. If you are missing something you are a lame team. You can recover and develop, for example, but if you don’t define, if you don’t score… The same thing when you defend. If you have not recovered and they take you to your area and there you are wrong, bye.

Does the Selection do it?

-The Selection has incorporated the concept. He does it when he can, like any team. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. Review the games and those who know football will notice immediately.

-Which player caught your attention or surprised you?

-Several but I could mention Otamendi.

-Why Otamendi?

-I don’t get along with central scorers… They must be very good. I hadn’t seen much of Otamendi and that’s why I was surprised. He has little brilliance for show business and this guy has a barbaric commitment to keep and move on from his position. Sometimes there are players who go too far trying to show off and this one doesn’t.

-No one is looking for a one-man show.

-I agree. But look at Otamendi, taking him as an example. There are no vain passages. And this is repeated in others. May they be wrong, yes… But nobody seeks personal prominence and that is because of what he said at the beginning. To the commitment with the team, with the idea. They are a group of friends who play soccer in the same team.

-Can you talk about a style?

-I don’t know whether to call it that; there are too many labels in football. If we keep talking in this sense, let’s start with the phone numbers, 4-3-3, 4-4-2… I used to play for Santos with Pelé and once they asked him if Brazil in 1970 played 4-2-4 and Pelé told them: “Show me some footage of Brazil playing 4-2-4. Let’s play football. ” And he was right.

So, about the style…

-The style is that this team interprets the history of Argentine football. With authority, he is a worthy representative of a culture and a history. The ball is still theirs because they come from the neighborhoods where the ball belongs. The ball belongs to the neighborhoods and the people. And this team plays like this, with that idea. I repeat: beyond the result without neglecting that the final result can be the reward they deserve.

But there are other ways to play.

-Of course. But we know what our story is… Otherwise we go to Germany and play something else.

– Why do you think what you say happened in the team?

-For several reasons. One is what I was talking about at the beginning, the idea that comes from the coaching staff and is passed on to the players. They seem comfortable with that and how they have built a great group and have achieved their goals so far; belief is stronger. There are many examples of what I say.

-One, let’s see?

– Messi.

It’s an easy answer.

-At all.

-Because?

-Messi plays like this; he does what he does because it is in him the essence of him. He had extraordinary coaches, especially in Barcelona. There he completed his training, learned, improved things, but his essence is the same as always. Watch Julián Alvarez’s goal against Croatia. That’s where the Rosary came from. This is what I’m talking about when I talk about essence. And I could give examples of others, but I think Messi is the best example.

-You mentioned Croatia. There is no denying that Luka Modric also has the essence of him.

– Sure, of course. I’m not going to deny Modric or belittle him. But do you know how many players I’ve seen here like Modric? Youngsters won’t know who I’m talking about but I played with Massei at Central. And they talk about the dynamics and the distribution and it’s very good because he has it. But I’m talking about Ardiles, for example. Or from Brindisi. And I could name you so much more. This is interesting because it can lead us to a confusion that I sometimes see in many of his colleagues.

-What confusion?

-And… I’m tired of hearing that people from here can’t play in Europe or that it’s difficult for them to play there because of the environment. She’s a bitch … Bring me someone from there who comes to play the championship here and who has to go to the Central, Chacarita or Gymnastics field …

Does the environment influence then?

-Influence those who are not used to it. These guys will play in a world final. Do you think they are afraid of the environment…? I’m not saying they aren’t aware of the importance of playing in a world final, but the stage, the atmosphere, won’t be a problem.

-France will not be easy.

-At all. But Morocco wasn’t going to be easy either. If you asked me before the semi-final who I wanted as a rival, obviously I would tell you Morocco because it is less than France but it wouldn’t have been easy. Furthermore, he may also have confused the game with the Moroccans.

You were talking about France.

-We are a good team, but we are not the Brazil of the 70s. And France are a good team and have good players, especially strikers.

Do you have any weaknesses?

-He has not. He has attacking talent but hasn’t played a match like this yet. And I say that even if they are champions of Russia. He has excellent players and is a team that always plays to win. They don’t care about the commitment. I said they don’t have any weaknesses but always winning sometimes leaves them open and that can help you.

-There is a feeling that the next generation is already in the national team.

-Maybe, but it depends on us. Of the bosses, what they want to do with the Selection. Being together two days before is useless. You have to keep the idea. If I threw a ball at Central for no reason, I would hear murmurs… So let’s go back to the essence. But what you say is true. In that team there are very young and very good guys. And count the guys who are eliminating Boca or River and Racing. The problem is that they leave, they sell them. Look, the River fans barely saw Sívori, he barely played for a year and they sold him. But we have material. What you have to do is go deeper into this, beyond what happens on Sunday. This is the main one.

The look at a technical staff in which everyone knows their role

César Menotti talks about his relationship with the manager of the national team: “One day Tapia called me and I went to see him. I hadn’t joined AFA since 1982, let alone … And he told me that he had chosen Scaloni ”. He continues with his unmissable monologue. “Since I didn’t know Scaloni, I invited him to my house to chat. And we talk a lot. I told him I couldn’t agree to sign for two months, as the AFA wanted. He had to sign for the qualifiers and, if he qualified, extend to the World Cup. I was calm when he told me that Samuel, Ayala and Aimar would accompany him. So I said to Tapia: “If Aimar is there, everything is fine.” Did you know that Aimar’s name is Pablo and his father gave him César as a middle name after me? So imagine… I know where he came from, that he taste he inherited. And I also met him as a player and as a person. Like Ayala and now Samuel. See how the relationship between them is. They talk little and don’t talk shit or sell smoke. Everything is measured and everyone has their well-defined role. The technician is the technician and the assistants, the assistants. They live as four friends and are good people. Everything is measured, there are no exaggerations. And this is passed on to the players. And it has enormous value,” he argues.

The belief that Messi can play until he is 40

Lionel Messi has said that tomorrow will be his last match for the national team. “It could happen, but I don’t think he will retire from football,” says César Menotti. “I don’t know him, I haven’t talked to him and I don’t even know what he thinks about it, but for the life he leads, for the training he has, I think he can play up to 40 years old,” he says. And he explains: “This is very ancient; You will lose physique, speed, whatever you want, but talent and technique are never lost. This is why I say that, even if I don’t know him, I know how he takes care of himself and this can help him remain a good level footballer for several more years ”.