Alejandro Javier Sabella (; 5 November 19548 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. Known as "Alex" while in England (an anglicised version of his real name), Sabella 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 intra-hospital virus which caused him a heart disease. He was 66 years old. Playing career Early life and career Alejandro Sabella was born to a middle-class family in Buenos Aires' well-off Palermo neighborhood. He was an excellent student at school, and was admitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, but his career as a football player eventually forced him to abandon his studies. As a young man Sabella was politically active in the left-wing Peronist Youth and worked to aid the urban poor in the slums. He stated, "I felt a growing need to be always on the side of solidarity and of the distribution of wealth for a fairer, more egalitarian society, in which we can all have equal opportunities." As a footballer, Sabella rose through the junior divisions of River Plate in the early 1970s, when his position of attacking midfielder was covered by Norberto Alonso. His style reflected Alonso's, with emphasis on individual technique and short passes. His slow pace gained him the nickname of Pachorra (lunfardo,