An emotional Lionel Scaloni burst into tears of joy after Argentina's dramatic World Cup final victory against France on Sunday.
The South American country won their third world title after a memorable game at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. Lionel Messi scored a brace and Kylian Mbappe bagged a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw before Emiliano Martinez's heroics helped Argentina win on penalties.
Argentina boss Scaloni has proven himself to be one of football's coolest managers during the finals, but he struggled to hold back the tears when Sevilla defender Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty to hand the Albiceleste their third World Cup triumph.
Scaloni quietly smiled when Montiel found the net, but his composure didn't last for long. The manager burst into tears of joy moments later before being cuddled by Juventus midfielder Leandro Paredes, one of his most trusted players. His emotions also got the better of him after Argentina's 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia.
Scaloni deserves all the accolades he will receive in the months ahead after turning Argentina's fortunes around and adding his name to the list of World Cup-winning coaches.
The former defender had never managed a senior team when he was given the Argentina job, initially on a temporary basis, after the 2018 World Cup. He was hired by the AFA purely because he was the cheap option, after they paid up predecessor Jorge Sampaoli's contract.
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Since then, Scaloni has re-established Argentina as one of the world's best teams, re-engaging and re-energising Lionel Messi and building around his veteran talisman.
They defeated Brazil 1-0 in last year's Copa America final to end a 28-year wait for a major trophy, before hammering Italy 3-0 to win the Finalissima, a one-off game between the South American and European champions, in June. Scaloni's side also went 36 games unbeaten heading into the World Cup.
The likes of Daniel Passarella, Jose Pekerman, Marcelo Bielsa, Alfio Basile, Alejandro Sabella, Jorge Sampaoli and the great Diego Maradona had failed to deliver Argentina's third world title before Scaloni delivered the goods. He is the third Argentina coach to win the World Cup after Cesar Luis Menotti in 1978 and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
During his playing career, Scaloni won seven senior caps for Argentina and four trophies - including the LaLiga title during the 1999/00 campaign at Deportivo La Coruna. He also played for West Ham and was labelled the villain for their 2006 FA Cup final defeat.
With the Hammers beating Liverpool 3-2 in the 90th minute, Scaloni cleared the ball straight to a Liverpool player. The ball eventually found it's way to Steven Gerrard, who smashed in a famous 30-yard equaliser. West Ham fans have never forgiven Scaloni.
"Scaloni was so emotional he cried after the game," West Ham's Jimmy Walker told The Athletic. "I didn’t have much sympathy for him because he cost us a winner’s medal."
Yet the Argentina boss won't be too concerned about that now and was delighted with his players' achievements after their epic tussle with Les Bleus.
"The players broke their backs," said Scaloni. "They have achieved this today because they understand what they had to do on the pitch and we are happy and proud."
