The current coach of Atlético Mineiro, the Argentine Gabriel Milito, He was discarded as a player at the time by the Real Madrid, but later participated in the golden age of Barcelona under the direction of Pep Guardiolahis guru and inspiration, and from whom he confesses that he learned much of what he knows.
“Guardiola knew that I was going to be a coach. Since the time I played, I was always interested in directing,” he stated in a recent interview with the Clarín newspaper.
Now ‘Gabi’ is looking to win his first Libertadores Cup as coach in charge of the Brazilian club Belo Horizontewho will play the final next Saturday against Botafogo in it Monumental of Buenos Aires.
Born in the neighborhood of Quilmes in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Milito made inferiors and was born as a footballer in Independiente, the club of which he became an idol, obtaining the captain’s ribbon at the age of 20 and from which he returned to retire in 2012.
He has faced his older brother on the court on several occasions, Diego Milito, who is considered one of the greatest exponents of Racing Club, Independiente’s historic derby.
In 2003, the real Madrid ruled out his signing due to problems with his right knee, the same injury that years before had kept him away from the red fields for a long time, and it was then that the Royal Zaragoza, where he played four seasons at a high level.
Milito lived his most winning stage in the Camp Nou, with 10 titles in the Catalan club, where he also formed a great friendship with Lionel Messi, with whom he shared a team in the Argentine national team during the 2006 World Cup and the 2011 Copa América.
Three years after his retirement as a player in 2012, he began his career as a coach, when he took charge of Students from La Plata. He even became technical director of Independiente, where he left on bad terms after arguing with several leaders.
Between 2017 and 2018 he directed the Chilean first division club O’Higgins and then returned to Studentswhich he resigned within a year due to a poor streak of results.
His most notable work was with Argentinos Juniors starting in 2021, for two and a half years and 135 games, and which he abandoned due to stress. Free, he was approached by Cruzeiro, who had recently fired Portuguese coach Pepa, but the Argentine declined the offer.
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Finally, in March of this year, Galo announced the hiring of the 44-year-old Argentine until the end of 2025 instead of Luiz Felipe Scolari and a month later he won his first championship as a coach, winning the final of the Mineiro Championship precisely against Cruzeiro.
After losing the final of this edition of the Brazil Cup against Flamengo, Military He will look for a victory that will raise the spirits of the team led by Hulk and allow him to dream of a European bench.
