Alfio Basile

Born in Bahía Blanca, Basile is of Sicilian descent through his grandparents, who emigrated from Catania. He started his playing career at Club Bella Vista in his home city. From 1964 to 1970 he played for Racing Club, where he played as midfielder until the arrival of coach Juan José Pizutti, who moved him to the defensive line to play as centre-back. In that position, Basile formed a remembered defensive pair with Roberto Perfumo, winning three titles with the club, which reached its peak with the Intercontinental Cup won in 1967 to Celtic FC, the first intercontinental title for an Argentine team. Basile totalized 186 matches with Racing Club before moving to Huracán, where he was a mainstay of the 1973 Metropolitano champions under coach César Luis Menotti. He also played for the Argentina national team. Basile retired as a player in 1975.

A Racing Club member took me to the club to try there. Carlos Peucelle was the coach by then. (After passing the test) I started to play at the 7th division, then promoted to higher ones, always playing as "number 5" (central midfielder). Last year, Dellatorre hanging me debut in Primera División, in the last round of the championship v. Huracán. I played as "number 6" (centre-back)

After retirement as a player, Basile coached a number of Argentine teams, most notably Rosario Central, Racing Club, Huracán, Vélez Sársfield, Uruguayan Nacional, and Atlético Madrid. His career as a coach reached its first peak in the early 1990s, when he led the Argentina national football team to win two Copa América, one FIFA Confederations Cup and one CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions victories. The run-up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup looked smooth until a 5–0 defeat at home to Colombia. Following that traumatic event, Diego Maradona was brought back from retirement to take part in the play-off against Australia. In the World Cup itself, Argentina opened with two impressive victories over Greece and Nigeria. However, controversy was soon to appear. Maradona was tested for doping after the Nigeria match, and was suspended after ephedrine was found in his sample. Argentina still progressed to the last 16 despite a 2–0 defeat by Bulgaria, but morale was shattered and the team was eliminated after losing to Romania. After resigning over the World Cup disappointment, Basile went on to coach San Lorenzo de Almagro, Club América of México and Colón de Santa Fe with varying degrees of success. In July 2005 he assumed the post of coach at Boca Juniors, winning the Recopa Sudamericana 2005 just a month later. He then won his first Argentine league title in the 2005 Apertura tournament. Four days later, Boca won the Copa Sudamericana 2005 against UNAM Pumas of Mexico. In July 2006, he…

Player

Racing Club

Primera División: 1966 Copa Libertadores: 1967 Intercontinental Cup: 1967 Intercontinental Champions' Supercup runner-up: 1969 Huracán

Primera División: 1973 Metropolitano

Manager

Racing Club

Supercopa Sudamericana: 1988 Recopa Sudamericana runner-up: 1989 Vélez Sarsfield

Argentine Primera División runner-up: 1985 Nacional Club América

CONCACAF Giants Cup: 2001 Boca Juniors

Primera División: 2005 Apertura, 2006 Clausura Copa Sudamericana: 2005 Recopa Sudamericana: 2005, 2006 Argentina

Copa América: 1991, 1993; runner-up: 2007 FIFA Confederations Cup: 1992 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 1993