Diego Simeone, Atlético
de Madrid coach, prior to the UEFA Champions League semi-final match
between Atletico de Madrid and FC Bayern Muenchen at Vincente Calderon
in Madrid, Spain, on April 27, 2016. (Alexander
Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Despite losing its final game against Real Madrid, the
Atlético de Madrid team has a hero: Diego “El Cholo” Simeone, one of the
most unconventional soccer managers in the world. Few managers have his
same drive for success or his capacity for motivating his players to
give all their efforts for their team. His motto was: “Work, work,
work.”
Simeone was already remarkable as a soccer player. He was a tenacious
midfielder, who could win impossible balls and start attacking moves,
even scoring goals himself. He represented Argentina at the 1994, 1998,
and 2002 FIFA World Cups. The characteristics that he had as a player:
technique, versatility, intelligence, strength, and stamina served him
well when he became a manager.
His nickname “Cholo,” as he is generally known, was given to him by
his youth coach Victorio Spinetto, who called him that way because it
reminded him of the energetic style of a former Boca Juniors players and
Argentine international Carmelo Simeone, who was no relation of his.
No genteel player, Simeone himself described once his playing style
as “holding a knife between his teeth.” During the 1998 World Cup, in
the match between England and Argentina, Simeone reacted theatrically to
a kick by David Beckham. As a result, Beckham was sent off the field.
Simeone’s behavior was widely criticized. Sports Illustrated stated
that Simeone had first delivered a “heavy-handed challenge” on Beckham
and then “fell like a ton of bricks” when Beckham retaliated. Simeone
later admitted that he had simulated an injury from Beckham’s kick in
order to have him sent off.
During a friendly game between Argentina and England at Wembley,
Siemone’s father was watching the game with a friend of his. Every time
that Cholo was playing near where his father was seating, his father
whistled at him to call his attention to something in the game. After
several of his father’s calls Simeone couldn’t stand it any longer and
yelled at his father, “Stop, dad, you are driving me nuts!”
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