Daniel Alberto Passarella was born on 25 May 1953 and is an Argentine former footballer and manager, who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time.
17 Facts About Daniel Passarella
2.
In 2004, Daniel Passarella was named one of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pele at a FIFA awards ceremony.
3.
Daniel Passarella started his career at Sarmiento of Junin, Buenos Aires in 1971.
4.
Daniel Passarella played there until 1973, when he joined River Plate.
5.
Daniel Passarella was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays.
6.
Daniel Passarella was the all-time highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record that was later broken by Dutch player Ronald Koeman.
7.
Daniel Passarella was the first Argentine player to hold the World Cup, as it was handed to him first when Argentina won the final.
8.
Daniel Passarella was replaced in the first team by defender Jose Luis Brown and failed to regain his place after recovering from illness.
9.
Daniel Passarella had a fractious relationship with captain Diego Maradona and coach Carlos Bilardo during the tournament.
10.
Thereafter, Daniel Passarella was appointed as the coach of the Argentina national team in 1994, replacing Alfio Basile.
11.
Daniel Passarella was in charge of the team during the 1998 World Cup qualification campaign and later the competition itself, which was held in France.
12.
Daniel Passarella banned long hair, earrings and homosexuals in the national team, leading to disputes with several players.
13.
Fernando Redondo and Claudio Caniggia eventually refused to play for Daniel Passarella and were excluded from his squad.
14.
Subsequently, Daniel Passarella became the manager of the Uruguay national team, the first foreigner to take the job of Uruguay team, but he left the post during the 2002 World Cup qualification process.
15.
Daniel Passarella was then hired as coach of Corinthians in Brazil, but was fired after a few months after a spell of bad results.
16.
Daniel Passarella was elected as president of River Plate in December 2009.
17.
Daniel Passarella was alleged to have engaged in fraud during his presidency.