Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

for

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, River Plate, Nueva Chicago,

Tosu Futures was a Japanese football club that played in the former Japan Football League between 1994 and 1996. History PJM Futures was founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in 1987 as the team of PJM Japan, a company based on Paul J. Meyer's U.S. academy Succ ...

and

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known by its football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league s ...

. He represented his national team 39 times from 1985 to 1990 where the team won the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. After retiring he moved into coaching with Bella Vista before returning to his former club Argentinos Juniors, as well as spells at Talleres, Nueva Chicago and Godoy Cruz. With the Argentine Olympic team, he won the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics, which led to him being head coach of the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

from July 2010 to July 2011.

Playing career

Club

Batista played youth football in

, and debuted with the first team in 1981. With Argentinos, he won the 1984 Metropolitano and 1985 Nacional of the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

, as well as the

1985 Copa Libertadores The 1985 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Argentinos Juniors, of Argentina for the first time, after defeating América of Colombia in a penalty shootout, following a playoff game after the two-legged final finished level. Group stage Cl ...

. In 1988, Batista moved to River Plate; they won the 1989–90 league title. In 1992, he moved to Nueva Chicago. In 1993, he moved to

PJM Futures was a Japanese football club that played in the former Japan Football League between 1994 and 1996. History PJM Futures was founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in 1987 as the team of PJM Japan, a company based on Paul J. Meyer's U.S. academy Suc ...

in Japan. He retired as a player in 1994 and for two years from 1995 served as an assistant coach of 2 Japanese clubs. In 1997, he returned to play for

in Argentina.

International

After his impressive displays for Argentinos Juniors in the 1985 Copa Libertadores, the Argentine coach

Carlos Bilardo Carlos Salvador Bilardo Digiano (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina ...

called Batista up for a friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 14 November 1985 in a game that ended in a 1–1 draw. With the

soon looming, Batista quickly went on to establish himself as a first choice player within the

. Despite his limited international experience, he played each tournament game, Argentina won. An established regular within the squad, Batista played in the

1987 Copa América The 1987 Copa América was the 33rd edition of the Copa América, CONMEBOL's national team competition. It was the first Copa América under the new rotational hosting system. Argentina, as the first country alphabetically, hosted the tournament ...

1989 Copa América The Copa América 1989 football tournament was hosted by Brazil, from 1 to 16 July. All ten CONMEBOL member nations participated. Brazil won their fourth Copa América, and first since 1949, by beating Uruguay 1–0 in the final match at the ...

and

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

, which Argentina came runner-up in.

Managerial career

Batista started his managerial career with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an club Bella Vista in 2000. He then had two spells with

, one with

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known f ...

and one with Nueva Chicago. Between 2005 and 2006, he was assistant to

Oscar Ruggeri Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri (born 26 January 1962) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Nicknamed ''El Cabezón'' ("The Big-Headed One"), Ruggeri achieved success at the international level with the Argentina nati ...

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

. In October 2007, the former midfielder was appointed as the head coach of the Argentine U-20 national team, replacing

Hugo Tocalli Hugo Daniel Tocalli (born 21 January 1948) is an Argentine former professional football player and coach. He played over 400 games as a goalkeeper, and went on to coach a number of clubs as well as the Argentina under-20 team. Playing career To ...

. He managed the gold medalist

Argentina Olympic football team The Argentina Olympic football team (Argentina U-23 since 1992) represents Argentina in international football competitions during Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. After the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Argentina national team manager

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

did not renew his contract, and Batista was appointed as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

on 27 July 2010. In his role, Batista led Argentina to two wins (1–0 over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and 4–1 over World Cup holders

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) and suffered a defeat against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

0–1. Three months later, he was named the official head coach of the Argentina national team. In his first match after being officialized as Argentina's coach, his team defeated

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

1–0, with a 90th-minute goal by

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

. On 25 July 2011, the AFA announced that Batista had stepped down as manager of the Argentina national team after poor results in the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

Honours

As a player

;Argentinos Juniors *

: 1984 Metropolitano, 1985 Nacional *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

;River Plate *

: 1989–90 ;Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

As a manager

;Argentina * Summer Olympics Tournament gold medal:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batista, Sergio 1962 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Nueva Chicago footballers Sagan Tosu players All Boys footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Argentina international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate footballers in Japan Argentine football managers C.A. Bella Vista managers Argentinos Juniors managers Talleres de Córdoba managers Nueva Chicago managers Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba managers Argentina national under-20 football team managers Argentina national football team managers Shanghai Shenhua F.C. managers Bahrain national football team managers Qatar SC managers Uruguayan Primera División managers Argentine Primera División managers Primera B Nacional managers Chinese Super League managers Qatar Stars League managers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Argentina 2011 Copa América managers Argentine expatriate football managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in China Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Uruguay Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Bahrain Expatriate football managers in Qatar Argentine Internet celebrities