Argentine footballer and manager
Dr. Carlos Salvador Bilardo
(born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician,
football
player, and manager.
Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with
Estudiantes de La Plata
in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina side that won the
1986 FIFA World Cup
and came close to retaining the title in
1990
, where they reached
the final
. As manager of Argentina, he was renowned for successfully employing the
3?5?2 formation
at the highest level;
[1]
this formation has been in use for decades, but has never achieved mainstream status.
He is known by fans and the media as
el narigon
("the big nosed one").
Early life
[
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]
Bilardo was born in the Buenos Aires
La Paternal
neighbourhood to
Sicilian
immigrants from
Mazzarino
.
[2]
He was drawn to football from his childhood, but did not neglect study or work. On school vacations, he would get up before dawn to haul produce to the
Abasto
market in
Buenos Aires
.
Bilardo was a promising prospect in the youth divisions of major Buenos Aires club
San Lorenzo de Almagro
, and he was drafted to the junior
Argentina national football team
that obtained the 1959 Pan-American title and took part in the
1960 Summer Olympic Games
in
Rome
.
[3]
In 1961, Bilardo was transferred to second-division side
Deportivo Espanol
, where he became the team's top scorer, but he slowly gravitated to the position of
defensive midfielder
. In parallel, he continued his studies in the Faculty of
Medicine
of the
University of Buenos Aires
.
Club career
[
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]
In 1965, Bilardo was transferred to
Estudiantes de La Plata
, where manager
Osvaldo Zubeldia
built a team based on the
Killer youth divisions
(
la tercera que mata
) and thought of using Bilardo as a more mature anchor for the midfield.
Bilardo became Estudiantes' inside-the-pitch tactician. Over a four-year span, the team won one
Metropolitano
title (1967), three
Copa Libertadores
titles (1968?1970, defeating
Palmeiras
,
Nacional
and
Penarol
respectively at the finals) and one
Intercontinental Cup
in 1968 against
Manchester United
.
After graduating as a physician (together with fellow player
Raul Horacio Madero
), Bilardo retired from play and accepted the job of Estudiantes coach in 1971. For the next years, he divided his time between managing, his family (he married in 1968 and fathered a daughter), and helping manage his father's furniture business. He even found time to research
rectal cancer
and practice as a
gynecologist
(Bilardo finally retired from the practice of medicine in 1976, feeling that being a physician requires a full-time commitment that he was unable to provide).
Managerial career
[
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]
After retiring as a player, Bilardo became Estudiantes coach in 1971. Estudiantes got to the final of the
1971 Copa Libertadores
, which it lost to
Nacional
. In 1976, he became manager of
Colombia
's
Deportivo Cali
and after a 2-year stint he managed to get the squad into the
Copa Libertadores Finals
but once again failed to win the title. After failing in the
1978 Copa Libertadores Finals
, Bilardo had a short stint in San Lorenzo and then became
Colombia national team
's trainer. When the team failed to qualify for the 1982 World Cup, he was fired from his position, and Estudiantes arranged for his return to Argentina.
The club was enjoying healthy finances due to the transfer of
Patricio Hernandez
, and accommodated Bilardo's request for reinforcements. The team made the semi-finals of the 1982
Nacional
and went on to win the same year's
Metropolitano
title.
Bilardo's scheme was based on Zubeldia's tactics, and its attacking might (fueled by players like
Sabella
,
Trobbiani
,
Gottardi
and
Ponce
) earned the attention of the media?and of the top brass of the
Argentine Football Association
, who offered him to manage the
Argentina national team
.
He held the post from 1983 until after the
1990 World Cup
. Under his watch,
Diego Maradona
became the most dominant player of his age, and Argentina enjoyed their best international harvest, winning the 1986 edition and reaching the 1990 final.
Bilardo wrote a book called "Asi Ganamos" ("How we won", Editorial Sudamericana Planeta) retelling the story of Argentina's 1986 FIFA World Cup win.
After 1990
[
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]
From 1990 and onwards, Bilardo alternated teaching and journalism stints with managing. He would reunite with Maradona in
Sevilla FC
and later in
Boca Juniors
, and have a brief term as the national coach of
Libya
.
Bilardo returned to Estudiantes for the 2003?2004 season. In a publicised episode during that season, Bilardo sat next to the pitch during a game against
Club Atletico River Plate
and drank from a bottle of
champagne
. When confronted by media, he maintained that the bottle actually contained
Gatorade
; the contents of the bottle were analysed by a forensic lab, confirming Bilardo's version. Within that season, results improved, and several young players were promoted to the first team, including
Jose Ernesto Sosa
, who would later help Estudiantes become a contender; three years later, the team won the League title under coach
Diego Simeone
, and in 2009 Estudiantes won the Copa Libertadores again, with Bilardo attending the final in
Belo Horizonte
and receiving a gift from coach Sabella?his "lucky" beige coat.
Bilardo covered the
2006 FIFA World Cup
in
Germany
for Argentine TV station
Canal 13
as a commentator. In the aftermath of the tournament, Argentine manager
Jose Pekerman
renounced the post, and Bilardo's name was floated as a possible substitute. The job eventually went to
Alfio Basile
, who had earlier succeeded Bilardo as national coach after the 1990 World Cup.
Following the 2007 gubernatorial election, Bilardo was named Secretary of Sports of
Buenos Aires province
under governor
Daniel Scioli
.
General Manager
[
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]
A new generation of Bilardo-influenced coaches has taken over many key positions in Argentine and South American football:
Brown
,
Pumpido
,
Burruchaga
,
Batista
,
Russo
, and
Maradona
.
When Maradona was named as national team coach in October 2008, Bilardo was tapped for the post of Argentina General Manager. After the designation, Bilardo agreed to quit his Secretary post.
Honours
[
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]
Player
[
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]
- San Lorenzo
- Estudiantes
- Argentina
Manager
[
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]
- Estudiantes
- Deportivo Cali
- Argentina
Individual
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Achievements
|
Preceded by
|
FIFA World Cup
Winning Manager
1986
|
Succeeded by
|
Status
|
Preceded by
|
Oldest living manager
5 January 2024 – present
|
Incumbent
|
Argentina squads
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Comizzo replaced Pumpido after Argentina's second match.
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Carlos Bilardo managerial positions
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