During an interview with TyC Sports, Javier Mascherano could finally open up about Diego Maradona and Alejandro Sabell’s tragic passing.
Javier Mascherano has very few figures in his career like Alejandro Sabella and Diego Maradona. Out of all his years playing for Argentina, it’s easy to see why those two managers are the most important for him. Diego was the man who gave Masche the captain’s armband when he was very young.
Whereas Sabella was the manager who made him reach the only World Cup final he ever played. Their passing was incredibly painful for a lot of people in Argentine but Mascherano was especially hit by their deaths. Until today, the former player hadn’t spoken in public about their passing. However, an interview with TyC Sports’ ‘Libero’ show was where he aired his feelings.
Sabella was one of his mentors.
On the TyC Sports interview, Mascherano spoke about Sabella first: “Everybody knows the personal relationship I had with Alejandro. For me, he was much more than a manager because we had a different connection. Everything we lived during the 2014 World Cup made the relationship feel different. I was lucky enough to meet him again when I returned to Argentina and most of all the first months of this year.
“After 2014, we didn’t see each other much. We stayed in touch when they got him checked in the hospital, mostly with his son Alejo. Alejandro leaving us was a moment of great sadness. He made us all improve. There were always things he taught us that made us batter not only as players, but as people. He left way too soon.”
About Maradona, Mascherano also said: “Diego was also a very important person in my life. He gave me Argentina’s captain’s armband when I was only 24 and with everything that entails. Everything he means for what he was as a player and having the armband. I remain with the fact that I met Diego, not Maradona. We had endless conversations. He was a kind person who gave you everything without expecting anything in return.
“Everyday he surprised us with stories because who doesn’t have a picture with Diego? Who doesn’t know Diego? It’s as if he lived a thousand lives for the number of people who met him and how difficult that was. Diego was a man of the people and that gave a lot of people the chance to have an experience to tell with him. There was a different aura about him. When you were close to him, there was something that always shined.”
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