José María Minella (1909–1981) was an Argentine football player and manager. He played for and managed Argentina's national team.

Club career

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Minella started playing at local club Independiente of Mar del Plata. On 23 August 1925, he was part of the local league team that achieved a 1–0 win over a team made of battleship HMS ''Repulse''´s crewmembers during the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

visit to Argentina. In 1928 he was signed by Gimnasia La Plata who won the amateur Argentine championship in 1929. He played in the team nicknamed ''El Expreso'' ("The Express") that nearly won the championship in 1933. In 1935 he moved to River Plate where he was part of three championship's winning teams in 1936, 1937 and 1941. Towards the end of his playing career he played in

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 ...

with

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

and in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

with Green Cross.

International career

Minella made his international debut in 1933, he played three times in the Copa América, in 1935, 1937 and 1941. Argentina won the 1937 and 1941 editions. He played a total of 24 games for his country netting one goal.

Managerial career

Minella took over as manager of River Plate in 1945, he led the team through one of the most successful eras in their history. Between 1952 and 1957 they won five championships in six years, including the club's second treble in the professional era (1955, 1956 and 1957). He also won the

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of ...

in 1947. Minella had a spell as manager of the Argentina national team between 1964 and 1965, he returned as caretaker manager for one game in 1968. As national coach, he won the

Taça das Nações The Taça das Nações (Portuguese for "Nations' Cup") or "Little World Cup" was a football tournament played in Brazil in 1964 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Brazilian Football Confederation. Three international teams ...

played in

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 ...

in 1964.

Legacy

In preparation for the 1978 FIFA World Cup a football stadium was built in Mar del Plata and named Estadio José María Minella after his death in 1981 to honour Mar del Plata's most significant football talent.

Honours

As a player

Club

Gimnasia La Plata * Argentine championship: 1929 River Plate *

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, c ...

: 1936, 1937, 1941 *

: 1937

International

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

* Copa América: 1937, 1941

As a manager

Club

River Plate *

: 1945, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957 *

: 1947 *

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offic ...

: 1952

: 1964

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minella, Jose Maria 1909 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Mar del Plata Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Argentina international footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Peñarol players Club de Deportes Green Cross footballers Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentine football managers Argentina national football team managers Club Atlético River Plate managers América de Cali managers