ImagesPA; Getty Images6 5
CARLOS BILARDO
Bilardo replaced Cesar Luis Menotti as
Argentina coach to disgruntlement in
1983, despite recent success with
Estudiantes. But style was unimportant. “You
have to think about being first,” he said.
“Because second is no good.” Fortunately for
La Albiceleste, such a mantra liberated Diego
Maradona to cause mayhem at Mexico 86,
as Argentina became world champions for
the second time in eight years. Under
Bilardo, they also reached Italia 90’s final
showdown, but second was no good.64
FERNANDO
SANTOS
Santos may have played
second fiddle to a wounded and
wild Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euro 2016
final, but Portugal’s unlikely conquerors were
made in their coach’s image. His side beat
the Netherlands to 2019 Nations League
glory too, led by their talismanic skipper
whose strengths are expertly catered for.
Santos – a champion with Porto, three-time
cup winner and Greek Superleague Manager
of the Decade 2000-10 – is well-versed in
getting a team over the line.63
EMERICH JENEI
In six previous seasons in
the European Cup, Steaua
Bucharest had never progressed
past the first round. Under Jenei they went
all the way, becoming the first Eastern
European side to lift the trophy in 1986 after
seeing off Barcelona. Jenei enjoyed six spells
as Steaua coach, winning five league titles
either side of taking Romania to their first
World Cup for 20 years in 1990 – then
sending England packing at Euro 2000. A fan
of Phil Neville, presumably.62
STEFAN KOVACS
Ajax’s glory years began
under Rinus Michels – but
history often forgets Kovacs, the
Romanian who succeeded him. Kovacs
offered remarkable levels of freedom to his
team full of winners – especially Johan
Cruyff and Piet Keizer – and reaped the
rewards that followed with consecutive
Eredivisie titles and European Cups in 1972
and 1973. Kovacs is still the only foreign
coach of the French national side, and
helped to set up the Clairefontaine academy.ImagesPA; Getty ImagesParma were football’s cult club of the
1990s – and Nevio Scala was their creator.
A former midfielder with Milan and Inter,
he had made a promising start to
management at Reggina – in two seasons,
sealing promotion from the third tier, then
only missing out on reaching Serie A for the
first time in the club’s history after defeat in
the play-offs.
His feats impressed ambitious Parma,
who were Serie B mid-tablers in 1988-
and also eyeing their maiden Serie A
adventure thanks to investment from dairy
firm Parmalat. Scala was swiftly brought
in and led the Gialloblu to promotion in his
first campaign.
The astute tactician introduced an
innovative wing-back system and signed
wisely, landing goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel
and forward Tomas Brolin for their debut
season in Serie A. “We had a clear target in
the first year: salvezza, to avoid relegation,”
Taffarel told FFT. “The club had no training
ground – we trained in a park.”
But Parma exceeded all odds, finishing 6th
and qualifying for Europe courtesy of Scala’s
daring style of football. “A lot of teams played
0-0 football – we wanted to attack,” said
Brolin. “The whole of Italy found us exciting.”
Soon, the whole of Europe did too – Parma
beat Juventus to win the Coppa Italia in
1992, then dispatched Antwerp at Wembley
to bag the European Cup Winners’ Cup ayear later. They did it without key man
Faustino Asprilla, who had been recruited
from Colombian side Atletico Nacional but
didn’t feature in the final after injuring
himself while arguing with a bus driver,
booting the door in anger.
Boosted by the addition of Gianfranco Zola,
Parma appeared in three successive European
finals: they lost to Arsenal in the Cup Winners’
Cup showpiece of 1994, then beat Juventus in
the 1995 UEFA Cup finale to capture another
trophy. “In a one-off game, we were as good
as anyone,” proclaimed Scala.
The buccaneering coach gave a 17-year-
old Gianluigi Buffon his debut, but the
decision to sign Hristo Stoichkov in 1995
– months after the Bulgarian had won the
Ballon d’Or – led to tension between Scala
and president Calisto Tanzi. The manager
was encouraged to tweak his system to
incorporate the glamour arrival, but he was
reluctant. A below-par campaign ensued,
and Scala was gone.
He later won the Intercontinental Cup in an
otherwise disappointing 1997-98 at Borussia
Dortmund, before steering Shakhtar Donetsk
to their first Ukrainian league crown in 2002.
He returned to Parma as president
following their bankruptcy in 2015, helping
them get out of Serie D to begin their quest
back to Serie A.
Without Scala’s swashbuckling side, Italian
football wouldn’t have been the same.61 n EVIO SCALA
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