LONDON — Following Atletico Madrid’s stunning 3-1 win away at Chelsea on Wednesday, Atleti’s Argentine boss Diego Simeone finished his post-game press conference off in bizarre fashion.
Speaking through a translator Simeone, with his hair slicked back and a devilish look on his face, dropped the following line to salute the mothers of his players.
That’s right…
“I want to congratulate the mothers of these players, because they gave them big balls to play like this.”
Simeone is spot on. Those mothers deserve a jolly good pat on the back.
His team played with incredible drive, spirit and determination throughout and even when they feel behind to Fernando Torres’ 36th minute strike, Atleti did not panic. They stuck to their task and were driven on by Diego Costa’s tireless work rate up front and the industry and skill of midfielders Adrian Lopez, Koke and Arda Turan. All played with big cajones and put on a top performance when it really mattered, away at a hostile stadium in the UCL semifinal and all of that after going behind.
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You have to admire the Argentine manager for taking Atleti from a club riddled with financial turmoil when he took over in 2011 to winning the Europa League and now the brink of a UEFA Champions League and La Liga double in 2013-14. Atletico embody their coaches persona unlike any team I have ever seen. the chase, they harass, they kick, they scrap and they fight for every single ball on the pitch. Watch Simeone on the sidelines, he does it all with them.
This guy from Buenos Aires has got “big cajones” too.
Leading from the sidelines, the 44-year-old manager reminds me of a young Mourinho. The way he broods around his technical area and weighs up his next move. The former Argentine international was a leader of men in his playing days at Inter Milan, Lazio and in two separate spells with Atletico Madrid. A general in midfield, always biting into challenges and leading by example, now Simeone is one of the hottest coaching properties in Europe, and rightly so.
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Atleti’s fan saluted their manager at the final whistle as he’s lead them to the UCL final against their crosstown rivals Real Madrid. It is Atleti’s first European Cup final in over 40 years and the Spanish club thoroughly deserve to be heading to Lisbon on May 24.
Massive cojones and all…
