The Argentine Football Association has officially announced the departure of Argentina national team head coach Jorge Sampaoli.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has announced Jorge Sampaoli will not continue as national team head coach following a chaotic World Cup.
A 3-0 group stage defeat to Croatia following a 1-1 draw with Iceland left Argentina on the brink of a humiliating exit in Russia, before just about squeezing through to the knockout phase thanks to a 2-1 triumph over Nigeria.
That luck failed in the last 16 against France, however, when they were beaten 4-3 by the eventual tournament winners.
Sampaoli got the Argentina job after building a solid reputation in charge of Universidad de Chile, Chile and Sevilla, leaving the Spanish club at the end of the 2016-17 season after guiding them to Champions League football.
Given the regard many held Sampaoli in, there was great optimism that he would end Argentina's period of underachievement and finally find the balance between getting the best out of Lionel Messi and making the team a success.
But very little has gone well for Sampaoli and Argentina since he took charge in May 2017, with the coach's continuous tactical tweaks and strange selection choices baffling many.
Throughout the World Cup, Argentina's deficiencies through the middle and at the back continued to be exploited and France tore them apart at times, taking full advantage of their lack of pace, but Sampaoli failed to make alterations to address the problems.
A statement from the AFA reads:
"Today, the Argentina Football Association and the former national team coach, Jorge Sampaoli, have mutually agreed to the termination of their contract. Likewise, the physical trainer, Jorge Desio and the video analyst, Matias Manna, also disassociated themselves.
"Next Tuesday if will be defined who will be in charge of the Under-20 team in the COTIF L'Alcudia 2018 tournament.
"This association thanks the professionals for the developments within La Selección during their cycle."
mickey00
261
whether sampaoli leaves or not Argentina will never win a worldcup or copa america with messi,aguero,higuain,di maria etc, these player must retire from the national team. allow new players like dybala and icardi to play, and that when they can win the worldcup
murinzie
246
Lionel Messi to be unveiled as new head coach in coming days
kinglionelmessi
165
lol what is breaking in it...?? it was well expected... 🤣🤣🤣
RubeRx
143
So he resigned? He was pretty adamant about finishing out his contract, must be getting paid off.
Chelasani
139
even as a coach he has done nothing... xavi-"if u put messi in a coaching role he would have already won the world cup"
lopacdkn
60
Sampaoli ever understood the Argentina national team. He never had a team and never settled down nor did his team. But I don't think majority of Argentines liked him and expected anything better than he gave them.
kuebilpsz
52
Thats a start
RyanT
47
Thanks god