 Sabella during a press conference in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alejandro Javier Sabella | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 5 November 1954 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 December 2020 (aged 66) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1974–1978 | River Plate | 117 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 1978–1980 | Sheffield United | 76 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Leeds United | 23 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1982–1987 | Estudiantes (LP) | 149 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 1985 | → Grêmio (loan) | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 27 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Irapuato | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 433 | (33) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | Argentina | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Qatar U20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Estudiantes | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Alejandro Javier Sabella (locally [saˈβela]; 5 November 1954 – 8 December 2020) was an Argentine football player and manager. Born in Buenos Aires, he began his playing career with River Plate in his home country before moving to England in 1978 to play for Sheffield United. He then had a spell with another English side, Leeds United, before returning to South America and representing Estudiantes, Grêmio, Ferro Carril Oeste and Irapuato.
After retiring from playing, Sabella became a coach and began a long association with fellow countryman and close friend Daniel Passarella, serving as his assistant manager during Passarella's spells managing Argentina, Italian club Parma, Uruguay, Mexican club Monterrey and Corinthians in Brazil. The duo finally returned to River Plate for whom they had both played before Sabella struck out on his own to become manager of Estudiantes in his own right, winning the Argentine Primera División Apertura championship and the 2009 Copa Libertadores. Sabella resigned from Estudiantes in February 2011 and was subsequently appointed as the coach of the Argentina national team, coaching them to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final against Germany, where they lost 1–0 in extra time. Sabella had scheduled his resignation to take effect after the conclusion of the World Cup.
Sabella died on 8 December 2020, due to an infection caught during a stay in hospital.