'Babyface' Gallardo rejuvenates Argentine game
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Marcelo 'Babyface' Gallardo made his River Plate and Argentina debuts at 17 and is now making waves as a young coach in the tough Argentine first division.
When Gallardo’s River team visit Atletico Rafaela on Sunday they will be defending a 19-match unbeaten run in all competitions achieved during his first 100 days at the helm since he took charge at the beginning of the season.
They are unbeaten in a total of 27 matches since April.
River are four points clear at the top of the championship with 28 points from 12 matches, and have reached the quarter-finals of the regional Copa Sudamericana after completing a 5-1 aggregate victory over Paraguay’s Libertad on Wednesday.
Gallardo inherited the team as champions from Ramon Diaz but they have improved under the 38-year-old, who is among several young coaches breathing new life into the Argentine game.
While Argentina produces players good enough to join Europe’s top clubs and take their country to the World Cup finals, the domestic game has suffered for years from mediocrity.
One of the teams most affected by the trend, was River, renowned in the past for their fine attacking football but who were relegated for the first time in 2011.
Among the talent from River's youth scheme was Gallardo, who played with Ariel Ortega, Hernan Crespo, Uruguay’s Enzo Francescoli and Chilean Marcelo Salas in a side that won a string of trophies in the 1990s including the South American Libertadores Cup.
Nicknamed 'Muneco' (doll or babyface) by team mates for his little boy looks when he first appeared in the River first team squad, Gallardo was something of a prodigy.
TEENAGE DEBUTS
He made his debut at 17 in 1993 under Daniel Passarella, who a few months later was appointed Argentina coach and gave Gallardo his international debut before taking him to the 1998 World Cup in France where they reached the quarter-finals.
Gallardo, who later played in France where he won the Ligue 1 title with Monaco in 2000 and the League Cup with them and Paris St-Germain, has become a top coach and won the Uruguayan title in 2012 in his only season in charge of Nacional.
He has not been afraid to impose his ideas, gleaned from playing under Marcelo Bielsa, Passarella and Alejandro Sabella, and has shown a conviction to attack and press high up the pitch, with a keen eye on changing tactics in extreme conditions.
“Gallardo is more than just an attacking coach,” wrote former midfielder and coach Carlos ‘Cai’ Aimar in the sports daily Ole after River rescued a 1-1 draw with Boca Juniors in a “superclasico” played in torrential rain three weeks ago.
“Sometimes there are coaches who believe they’re braver because they decide ‘To die with their boots on’. Really what you have to attempt is to not die… All systems are good if they are executed well.”
(Writing by Rex Gowar in London, editing by Ken Ferris)
