Coach Jose Nestor Pekerman had a huge influence in the way Argentinean football is played these days. The South American manager helped shape one of Argentina's greatest generations of footballers with his calm and relaxed approach to most of his players, which include some big names such as Lionel Messi, Carlos Tévez or Sergio Agüero. Pekerman included Tevez and Aguero in his 2006 World Cup expedition, where La Albiceleste was eliminated by Germany after a penalty shootout.
Pekerman's hand was directly involved in the development of what most experts consider the most fearsome attack in this Copa América edition. Colombia's coach was in charge of leading the youth categories for the Argentinean National Team from 1995 to 2007, winning three out of four U-20 titles. Following his stint as coach, Pekerman had a scouting system that monitored every Argentine youngster around the world, which made him realize about Lionel Messi's skills. He was responsible of electing Messi as the team's star during the 2005 U-20 World Cup, where La Albiceleste won once more the title, with "La Pulga" as the tournament's top scorer.
Di María & Agüero(2007), Carlos Tévez (2003), Lionel Messi (2005) and Gonzalo Higuaín were all handed their National team shot by Pekerman
In fact, Lionel Messi's performance in the 2006 World Cup with Argentina was the subject of controversy, since Pekerman refused to give the player more minutes in the tournament, particularly, during the Quarter-final match against the Germans. The Argentinean press was mad after the team's elimination, and Pekerman decided to step down.
Pekerman, alongside Messi and Mascherano, posing before the 2006 World Cup.
The seasoned coach has been praised by his former pupils, such as Javier Mascherano, who told the press Pekerman was one of the best coaches he had ever worked with, while thanking him for including him in the 2006 World Cup squad.
"I remember when we were coached by José. He waited for me to recover from an injury that kept me away from the pitch for eight months to finally call me up for the World Cup. I'll never forget that. He was just one of those coaches that is more focused on the human being than on the player itself. He's done a great job with Colombia," Mascherano stated.
Pekerman's record against La Albiceleste includes only one game, which ended in a 0-0 draw. During that match, Messi came on as a sub after recovering from an injury, but this time, "La Pulga" will be trying to prove that his former coach was right when he told president Julio Grondona "that kid playing in Barcelona will be one of the greatest footballers ever."
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