Osvaldo Zubeldía
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Osvaldo Juan Zubeldía, (June 10, 1927 - January 17, 1982) was an influential Argentine football (soccer) coach.
Zubeldía had a respectable playing career with Vélez Sarsfield, Boca Juniors, Atlanta and Banfield. He was known as an intelligent player who was always well positioned on the field. His legacy, however, would come from his career as a manager.
His managing career started with an unsuccessful stint on the managing team of the Argentina national football team, but it took off with Estudiantes de La Plata. Hired in 1965 to help stave off relegation, he combined many prospects from Estudiantes' la tercera que mata ("the killer juveniles") with a small number of outside talent, and built one of the most successful teams in the history of Argentine football.
The first championship of the so-called "Golden Era" came in 1967, when Estudiantes became the first "small" team to win an Argentine championship. The team came back from three goals down to beat Platense in the semifinal 4-3, then took the crown with a convincing 3-0 victory over Racing Club.
That title qualified the team for the Libertadores Cup of 1968, which Estudiantes won after defeating Brazilian side Palmeiras.
In that year's Intercontinental Cup, Estudiantes defeated Bobby Charlton's Manchester United 1-0 in Buenos Aires, and achieved a 1-1 tie at Old Trafford on October 16, 1968. The Intercontinental title remains the highest achievement in Estudiantes' history.
The team would go on to win the Libertadores Cup twice more, in 1969 and 1970, falling in the Intercontinental Cup finals to A.C. Milan and Feyenoord, respectively.
In 1974, Zubeldía coached the San Lorenzo de Almagro team that won the Nacional title.
Zubeldía went on to coach other teams in Argentina and Colombia, never repeating the success of his years with Estudiantes.
Zubeldía was a harbinger of tactical changes; he was the first manager to thoroughly research rival team's tactics and playing style. Pre-planned plays off free kicks and tactical fouls to stop rival advances were highly criticized at the time, but have since been adopted by virtually every team in the world. So are other practices, like the offside trap (having the defense step forward in sync to force rival off-sides) and using screens at corner shots.
Zubeldía's legacy was carried to fruition by the captain of Estudiantes, who went on to become one of the most successful coaches in Argentine history: Carlos Bilardo. Bilardo dedicated to his mentor both the 1982 Metropolitano title won by Estudiantes and the 1986 World Cup title.
