Humble Sabella leads Argentina to the promised land

From Bramall Lane in Sheffield to a World Cup final in Brazil, Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella's path to the most important game in world football wasn't always paved with gold.
Sabella the player, much like the manager, was a modest professional and after an early career breakthrough at River Plate found himself in the unusual surrounds for an Argentinian in the late 1970s of the English lower leagues with Sheffield United.
Legend has it that the Blades had tried to sign a teenage Diego Maradona but found his asking price too high and opted for the cheaper option in Sabella instead.

However, whilst the 59-year-old might have been unable to emulate Maradona's genius on the field, he has done a much better job of leading his country to the brink of a third World Cup triumph from the bench than Maradona managed four years ago.
Sabella's agent Eugenio Lopez confirmed on Friday that tomorrow's final against Germany will almost certainly be his last game in charge of Argentina no matter the outcome. His final task to succeed where Maradona failed in a 4-0 thrashing by the Germans in the quarter-finals in South Africa.
Buenos Aires sports daily Ole once described him as the antithesis to Maradona. An understated and humble coach with a meticulous eye for tactical details.

After 15 years as assistant to Daniel Passarella in a variety of jobs including the Argentine and Uruguayan national teams, Sabella stepped out on his own two feet for the first time at Estudiantes in 2009 with almost instant success.
In his first year the club from La Plata won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 39 years in a not too dissimilar manner to the way La Albiceleste have battled their way to the World Cup final.
Estudiantes conceded just two times in eight knockout round ties during their triumphant Libertadores campaign.