Carlos Timoteo Griguol It was much more than the technician who managed to get champion to Iron West Rail twice, and once nothing less than against River. It was a real maestro and a all terrain. He was not only involved in the sports field but also in the personal because, although sometimes there are those who want to separate one thing from the other, the player is also a person. And feel … Methodical, analytical and of “Creole liveliness”, the coach applied a revolutionary method: apply basketball tactics in soccer. With the help of an eminence like León Najnudel, was the architect of a great change in the world of the round.
Born in Las Palmas (Córdoba Province), on September 4, 1934, Timoteo He played in the local club and then moved to Buenos Aires, where Atlanta He opened the club’s doors to play in the First Division, a division in which he made his debut against Ferro, on May 5, 1957 in his team’s 1-0 victory. There he stood out and was an important piece of the midfield, to the point that champion of the 1958 Sweden Cup. He stood out for being very fast, his precise removals, his delivery and also for knowing how to read the movements of rivals on the court.. Without knowing it, He was already DT when he had his shirt on.
The brilliance displayed in the “Bohemio” gave him the opportunity for José Barreiro to call him to defend nothing less than Argentina National Team shirt in the 1959 Copa América. Even, He gave himself the luxury of being consecrated in the tournament that the Albiceleste won against Pele’s Brazil. His last three years as a footballer were spent in Rosario Central, where then would start his long career as a coach.
Carlos Timoteo Griguol, an Argentine soccer all-terrain coach.
The story of Carlos Timoteo Griguol as a coach: which teams he managed
After his retirement as a soccer player in 1969, Carlos Timoteo Griguol served as coach of the Lower Divisions of Rosario Central. There he acquired extremely valuable knowledge to form the basis of a successful team: work styles, what exercises to do in workouts, how to discipline and educate players, and how to handle groups in the human. After two years of experience, in 1971 and after being the DT of the Reserve, he had his debut in Primera.
The title that Griguol got as coach of Rosario Central
Then, in 1973, “Timo” had a long-awaited chance.. After the departure of Ángel Tulio Zof, who did badly in the Metropolitan Tournament, seized command of the First. And in the 1973 National Tournament, he became champion with the “Canalla” after beating River 3-1, Atlanta 2-1 and equaling 1-1 with San Lorenzo in the final homerun. However, the story was just beginning …
After the success in Central, Carlos tried his luck in Tecos of Guadalajara (Mexico), where he directed between 1975 and 1977. From there he decided to return to “Canalla”, where he stayed for a year. In 1979 it became Kimberley (Mar del Plata) and, after a brief experience, landed at Ferro, where he carried out a true epic between 1979 and 1987.
Carlos Timoteo Griguol, as DT of Rosario Central.
How was the arrival of Griguol to Ferro and the key role of León Najnudel, historical and renowned Argentine basketball coach
The story of his arrival at Ferro it has a very particular story. Believe or burst, Griguol It came on the recommendation of the most influential person in the history of Argentine basketball: León Najnudel, promoter of the creation of the National League. It is that the latter not only worked as a basketball coach for “El Verde” but also as a sports leader who generated respect in the club.
In 2008, the brother of Lion, Bernardo Najnudel, spoke with ESPN and revealed details of How was it that the basketball teacher recommended Timoteo in Ferro: “The relationship came from afar. León, in addition to being Ferro’s coach, was a sports advisor for the club. When Ferro is promoted to First, a trusted leader approaches him and asks for advice on hiring a coach. They tell him that they want to start a new stage of the club in football and that they need the right person. And this is how he recommends Carlos Griguol, whom he already knew from Atlanta. The leaders doubted, but León told them: ‘Hire this coach because he is the right one.’ And so it was: they came out champions of everything “.
León Najnudel, eminence of Argentine basketball, with Carlos Timoteo Griguol, an advance in football tactics.
The basketball tactics that Griguol applied as a football coach in Ferro
Even so, the relationship between Most boring and Griguol transcended. Following the recommendation of your colleague, Timoteo attended Ferro’s training sessions and basketball games. And it was there that a truly amazing learning journey began: compared various basketball moves and plays and then inserted them into his soccer teams. “Griguol, who went every game and was located under the inning ring at Etchart, took concepts from basketball and used them in football, mainly when taking the marks in the corner. Surely there was influence from León in that, I have no doubts “, Najnudel’s brother recalled.
Timoteo understood that, in football and as in basketball, physical work was essential. Osvaldo Zubeldia, another of his mentors, had already applied extremely revolutionary tactics for the time in Estudiantes. Even so, “Timo” He did the same in his own way inserting basketball into football, something that no team in Argentina, nor in the world, had done.
What kind of basketball tactics did Griguol carry out at Ferro? In 2003, and in an interview given to Víctor Hugo Morales and Roberto Perfumo to ESPN, commented: “We made outings of stopped balls and outings from the sides to drag marks. I went to see basketball every week”. What’s more, on some occasions he led two basketball players like Diego Maggi and Javier Maretto to practice on the side exits. The teaching was aimed at their footballers learned to put their bodies to bear the mark. Like little, He highlighted that he also managed to capture certain plays and concepts of volleyball and American football that were very useful for him to insert into football: “There are balls that are worked with the hand and that one can apply with the feet.”
Carlos Timoteo Griguol and the statue that Ferro fans installed in the venue to honor him.
The work of Griguol on Ferro, with the help of Najnudel, gave you remarkable and truly historic results. Such is so in 1982 he managed to win the team for the first time in Argentine football, at 1982 National Tournament, with figures like Oscar Garre, Gerónimo “Cacho” Saccardi and Alberto “Beto” Márcico, among other. And the icing on the cake would arrive in 1984, when “El Verdolaga” defeated River in the final of the National Tournament: it was 3-0 victory, in the first leg held at the Monumental, and a 1-0 at the Architect Ricardo Etcheverri stadium.
The transfer of Griguol to River, where he was also champion as coach
After the success in Ferro Carril Oeste, Griguol the diver put on River: between 1987 and 1988 directed 42 official matches, obtained 18 wins, 14 draws and suffered 10 losses. Even, He was champion of the 1987 Inter-American Cup in the final against Alajuelense (Costa Rica); and he won a historic Superclásico against Boca, in which “El Millonario” lost 2-0 and turned it back 3-2 in the second half.. As if that were not enough, Jorge Comas missed a penalty at the end of the game.
Carlos Timoteo Griguol, as River DT, at the Monumental stadium.
After poor results in the local tournament and the defeat in the semifinal of the 1988 South American Super Cup against Racing, President Hugo Santilli fired him from the club. The players had been delighted with the DT, but it was too late to turn the situation around.
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The return of Griguol to Ferro and the runner-up with Gymnastics and Fencing La Plata
In the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito they took note of the news and seduced him again to have his second stage. So it was: between 1988 and 1993 he again managed the club that won epic champions twice. Later, in 1993, Griguol accepted the challenge of leading Gymnastics and Fencing La Plata, which had no titles in its display case. AND in the 1995 Clausura tournament he was very close to achieving glory. In a dramatic outcome of the last round of the championship, “El Lobo” fell 1-0 to Independiente in the Forest; while San Lorenzo won 1-0 against Rosario Central, in the Gigante de Arroyito, and became champion.
The final leg of Griguol’s career as a coach
Between 1999 and 2000 he went abroad to direct the Real Betis (Spain) and after a season he returned to the Wolf, where he stayed for a year. Union of Santa Fe It opened its doors in 2002, but it was short-lived. And one more time, Gymnastics he repatriated him to lead the team in 2003. Finally, and after facing more than 30 years as technical director, he left the profession.
Carlos Timoteo Griguol, when he directed Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.
The values that Griguol tried to instill in his players: the incredible anecdote of Facundo Sava with the coach
To his credit, Timoteo has 1,139 matches directed: 454 wins, 391 draws and 294 defeats; and 4 titles (one with Rosario Central, two with Ferro Carril Oeste and one with River). Even so, Griguol left dozens of teachings: tactics and strategy, but also life. For example, in 2011, Facundo Sava gave a conference at the Circle of Sports Journalists in which he told some anecdotes about DT. And one of them, whoever writes these words was engraved.
“What are you going to do with your first salary?”, asked “The old”, who always wore a cap or beret. “I’m going to buy a car”, answered Sava, who said that he was confident and with the idea of going for a walk to take a walk around the neighborhood. However, the wise man’s response was with a forceful query: “Does that car you want to buy have a bathroom? Do you have a room and a bed to sleep in? And a kitchen to eat? “. Without finding valid and precise answers, the then young forward understood that the priorities had to be different and that “Timo”, in addition to being a coach, was a father. Of football and of life …
Facundo Sava was directed by Carlos Timoteo Griguol in Ferro y Gimnasia.
