'Argentine coach to step down after World Cup final'

Belo Horizonte, July 12 (IANS/EFE) Alejandro Sabella plans to step down as coach of the Argentine national team following the squad's FIFA World Cup final against Germany Sunday.

"I am sure that Alejandro is not going to continue with the national team. He dreamed of this his whole life, he sought it and he worked for it. But he has given Argentina everything he had to give," Eugenio Lopez, Sabella's agent said Friday, reports Efe.

Sabella has said many times that the job of coaching the national team is very demanding, suggesting once that nobody should remain in the position for an extended period.

"Sabella gave the team what he had to give and it's time to make way for someone else. Whatever happens (in Sunday's final), he will not continue," the coach's agent said.

The team has posted a record of 26 wins, 10 ties and four losses under Sabella, who took charge in 2011.

Argentina will be playing for their third World Cup title when they face Germany at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium.

--IANS/EFE

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