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No rush to judgment on Passerella successor
Posted: Monday July 06, 1998 11:20 AM
L'ETRAT, France
(Reuters) -- Nestor Pekerman is tipped as the man most likely to replace
Daniel Passerella as Argentina
coach but no decision is expected until next year.
Passarella quit after Saturday's 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal defeat by the
Netherlands
, but Argentine federation president Julio Grondona will not rush to
judgement on picking his successor.
"We have until January 1 to chose a new coach," he said.
But in the eyes of many the obvious candidate is Pekerman, who has been
hugely successful with Argentina's junior teams over the past four years.
Cesar Luis Menotti guided Argentina to victory in the 1978 World Cup and
steered the under-20 team -- captained by Diego Maradonab -- to the World
Youth Cup in Japan the
following year.
Pekerman matched Menotti's 1979 feat when he coached Argentina to the
World Youth Cup in Qatar three years ago and went one better by retaining
the trophy in Malaysia last year.
This year his under-21 team won the Toulon international tournament in
France in May on the same day that his under-17s won another event in Italy.
Pekerman, a journeyman midfielder for Argentinos Juniors in the 1970s and
1980s, has many admirers but there is a school of thought that says
coaching juniors is not necessarily the ideal springboard for taking charge
of hardened professionals.
Those opposed to handing the job to Pekerman had hoped Passerella might
be replaced by former international striker Carlos Bianchi, who guided
Velez Sarsfield to the world club title in 1994.
But this possibility appeared to evaporate when Bianchi was appointed
coach to Boca Juniors.
Meanwhile, Passarella departs after four years as national coach secure
in the knowledge that he gave the job his best shot despite Argentina's
failure to reach the World Cup semifinals.
"I feel calm and communicated this to the players because we put in every
possible effort," he said.
After four World Cups, his only regrets concerned the 1982 tournament in
Spain in which
he captained the team defending their 1978 title.
He believes that was Argentina's best ever team but regrets that it
under-achieved.
"I felt bad for a long time afterwards, but I don't have that sensation
this time," Passarella said, looking back on the 1998 World Cup, his only
tournament as coach.
During his four years in the job, his teams won 34 and lost 10 of their
56 matches. He has taken the squad through the post Maradona era even
though his star player Ariel Ortega ended his second World Cup with a red
card -- just like Maradona in 1982.
"I'm spiritually calm," Passarella insisted.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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