Gabi Milito can make history tonight (Saturday, 22:00, Sport4) as the first Argentinian coach to win the Libertadores Cup with a Brazilian team. In general, Argentine coaches have taken over South America. Of the 10 national teams on the continent, 7 are led by Argentines. Marcelo Bielsa in Uruguay, Nestor Lorenzo in Colombia, Sebastian Bacassa in Ecuador, Ricardo Garca in Chile, Gustavo Alfaro in Paraguay, Fernando Batista in Venezuela and of course Lionel Scalloni in his own team. At least they haven’t reached Selceau yet. The Brazilian association wanted to nominate Carlo Ancelotti, but Argentines are still out of bounds for them. In the clubs it is different, and Milito marched Atlético Mineiro to the grand final.
A foreign coach will win the award in any case, because Botafogo is coached by the Portuguese Arthur Jorse, but it will not be a novelty. Just the opposite – the Portuguese recently celebrated a lot in the Libertadores. Jorge Jesus won with Flamengo in 2019, but Pereira did it twice in a row with Palmeiras in 2020 and 2021. On the other hand, in the entire history of the factory, there were only two Argentines who led teams from other countries to the crown – Neri Pompidou with the Paraguayan Olympia in 2002 and Edgardo Bausa with the Ecuadorian LDU Quito in 2008. It was nothing out of the ordinary. An Argentinian with a Brazilian team is a completely different story, and more so in the final that will be held in Buenos Aires, at the Monumental Stadium of River Plate.
Beat Real Madrid in the final
Atlético Mineiro will be an underdog. Botafogo are the Brazilian league leaders racing for the title after a season-defining win over Palmeiras on Tuesday night and have a superior squad. Milito’s team ends a disappointing season in the middle of the table in the local arena, but that won’t stop him from going all out. He was already involved in bigger sensations. Two decades ago, in 2004, he was Zaragoza’s leading stopper in the victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup final, and the joy was especially great because the royal club refused to sign him a year earlier. A failure in the tests prevented the realization of the deal that had already been agreed because the young star’s knee was defined as problematic.
The medical team of Real Tzedek was right, of course. Milito’s knee did not heal properly from the horrific injury he suffered in 2002 and it ended up killing his promising career. In 2007 he arrived in Barcelona, determined to take revenge on the whites again and again in Clasico meetings, but rarely played in the four years at Camp Nou. Technically, he was a part of the two Champions League wins in 2009 and 2011, but practically he was not on the pitch – in complete contrast to his older brother Diego who scored a brace to win Inter 0:2 in the final over Bayern Munich in 2010. The lessons he learned from Pep Guardiola he didn’t apply on the pitch, then, but they were very important to him nonetheless, because even then he saw himself as a future coach and identified strongly with the Catalan’s methods.
Got diabetes because of stress
In fact, Milito cites the first conversation with Guardiola as a role model when it comes to human relations, which are the most important basis for the success of coaches. In the summer of 2008, the defender was in Argentina as part of his recovery from a long injury, which Pep suddenly called him before his debut game as Barca’s first team coach. “We miss you, and we are waiting for you. You will be an integral part of our journey,” the young boss told his apprentice. Unfortunately for the two, this prediction did not come true, but Milito will never forget the gesture. This is exactly what he needed to hear at a difficult moment in his life, and this is how he builds his leadership – and he also had something to learn from Carles Puyol in this aspect.
In an interview he gave a year ago to the newspaper La Experience in his homeland, Milito said: “I make a lot of mistakes. When this happens, I really enjoy coming to the players and telling them about it. I tell them – don’t worry, you were fine, I made a mistake. And I explain to them how I made a mistake, and how We’re going to fix it. I need to take responsibility. It’s okay to make mistakes in good faith. I don’t forgive people like that They try hard enough.”
This is the ultimate leadership, and this total commitment also exacts a difficult price. As a player, Milito suffered from health problems, and it happened to him even on the bench. When he was appointed in 2016 as the coach of his beloved Independiente, the team he has been a fan of for as long as he can remember, he did not live up to his own expectations of immediately winning titles. After he left, he felt physically bad, and tests revealed that he had diabetes due to the mental stress. Militi has since decided that he will only work in clubs to which he is not emotionally attached. It doesn’t make him any less angry with himself after losses, but at least he manages to keep his sanity. And he also knows how to stand up and resign when he controls his destiny alone.
Called to replace Scolari
This is what happened in August 2023 at Archantonis Juniors. The former stopper had a long-term contract until 2027 and the management was satisfied with the cooperation, but he realized that he had exhausted himself at the end of two and a half years on the job and surprised everyone to the extent that rumors about his poor health once again spread – this time they were actually wrong. Contrary to the claims of his apparent retirement from training, Milito stated that he would be open to a new challenge, but only if the project really believed in the project that would be presented to him. That challenge came when Felipeo Scolari was sacked by Atletico Mineiro last March. The 44-year-old Milito replaced the mentor who was more than 30 years older than him and fundamentally changed the mindset within the club.
Right at the beginning of the term he won the first title of his life as a coach, when the Rooster defeated Cruzeiro in the final of the Miniero Championship, but this achievement was mainly Scolari’s who qualified there. The fans also thought so, and defeats in the Brazilian league made the crowd call for the Argentine’s dismissal during the summer. He really wasn’t received with open arms, and the criticism from the commentators was harsh. If Atlético Mineiro had also been eliminated from the Libertadores Cup at an early stage, the management might have had to remove him, but the success in the international arena was great. Milito’s side knocked out San Lorenzo in the round of 16, dramatically overcame cup holder Fluminense in the quarter-finals and unconditionally defeated River Plate in the semi-finals, who had always dreamed of playing in the final in their home fortress.
Hulk is the strongest even at the age of 38
So now the Argentinian stands within touching distance of glory and in the big battle against Botafogo he trusts his old captain. “The Copa Libertadores is the title I’m missing, and I’m ready to give everything to win it. It’s an obsession,” said the 38-year-old Hulk.
Hulk came to the team back in 2021, with very big question marks over his head. Most of the fans in Brazil did not know his work in a somewhat strange career in Porto, Zenit and Shanghai, and he was mainly identified with the catastrophe in the 7:1 defeat against Germany in the semi-final of the home World Cup in which he was replaced at half time, but Hulk proved himself from the first moment, and was the big star in winning the championship 50 years – an extremely unusual drama about her You are welcome to read here.
Since then he has been a lift for the fans and his power has not weakened over the years. Even at his advanced age, Hulk is a leader and a symbol, and Milito considers him a senior partner. “He is an example and a role model in every possible aspect, as a player, as a professional and as a person. We have an exceptional captain, who makes sure that the players help each other. We work hard as a team, and that is the most important thing,” says the coach. And this is the attitude with which they arrive in Buenos Aires.
Botafogo aims to celebrate a historic double in the Brazilian league and the Copa Libertadores, which it wishes to lift for the first time in history. Atlético Mineiro actually won once before. It happened in 2013, when Ronaldinho, whom Milito knows from the joint season in Barcelona, returned to his homeland and marched the rooster to a huge achievement. Hulk is already imagining himself in the role of Ronaldinho now, and the Brazilian celebration is guaranteed anyway. The big question is if it will also have an Argentinian flavor, and who knows – maybe it is also a springboard for Gabi Milito on the way to Europe. As a player he did not fulfill his potential due to bad luck, but as a coach his path is just beginning.
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