(photo: Alexandre Guzanshe/EM/DA Press)
The clash between Atlético’s coach, Jorge Sampaoli, and América’s coach, Alberto Valentim, in this Wednesday’s classic (21/1), for the Campeonato Mineiro, went beyond the mountains of Minas. It even became news outside of Brazil – the international press reported on the black and white commander’s fury during halftime of the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw at Independência.
Media outlets in Spain, Chile and Argentina recorded the discussion between the two coaches, highlighting that the “short” Sampaoli did not like the fact that Valentim had alluded to his height.
The Chilean “Emol.com” wrote: “Jorge Sampaoli explodes in Brazil and almost ends up in trouble with a rival coach: ‘see the images and the gesture against the Argentine’”.
Another Chilean media outlet, “La Tercera”, gave the following headline to the news: “They called him short: Jorge Sampaoli loses control after provocations from the opposing coach about his height”.
He also wrote that the coach “couldn’t stand his rival colleague making fun of his size and had to be restrained by members of his team so that things wouldn’t get worse.”
It is worth remembering that Sampaoli enjoyed good moments in his career in the Andean country, managing the Universidad de Chile, between 2011 and 2012 – he won, among other competitions, the 2011 Copa Sudamericana -, and the Chilean National Team, from 2012 to 2016, in a period marked by winning the 2015 Copa América, defeating the favorite Argentina in the final.
Repercussion in the international media
The scenes starring Sampaoli and Valetim were also shown by vehicles in Spain – where the coach led Sevilla, between 2022 and 2023.
“Mocking about Sampaoli’s height ends up in a big fight. They had to take him off the field!”, reported the sports daily “Marca”. “Within seconds, players and members of the two technical committees found themselves involved in a commotion that forced referees and security agents to intervene,” he added.
The newspaper “As”, in turn, highlighted: “They make fun of Sampaoli’s height and his reaction is what has gone most viral in Brazil today”.
The traditional Argentine magazine “El Grão” adopted the tone of a tango: “Jorge Sampaoli on fire: the rival coach called him short and they almost came out on top”.
The confusion between Sampaoli and Valentim
The atmosphere between Sampaoli began to heat up in the final minutes of the first half of the classic, when Galo had a goal scored by Cuello disallowed by the referees after VAR intervention. The coaches ended up being warned with a yellow card.
As soon as the teams left for the locker room, at halftime, time closed: the Argentine headed towards the American coach, and the two were restrained by people nearby.
After the game, both talked about the episode, putting a spotlight on their reactions.
“No, no, nothing big. A game thing, nothing more. A goal that the referee saw, the VAR saw, everyone saw that it was legitimate and had no reason to be disallowed. Thus, confusion arose. But nothing more than that”, said Sampaoli.
“In relation to Atlético’s coach, I have nothing to say, game-related things”, Valetim limited himself to saying.
