He then had a spell with another English side, Leeds United, before returning to South America and representing Estudiantes, Grêmio, Ferro Carril Oeste and Irapuato.

After retiring from playing, Sabella became a coach and began a long association with fellow countryman and close friend Daniel Passarella, serving as his assistant manager during Passarella's spells managing Argentina, Italian club Parma, Uruguay, Mexican club Monterrey and Corinthians in Brazil.

The duo finally returned to River Plate for whom they had both played before Sabella struck out on his own to become manager of Estudiantes in his own right, winning the Argentine Primera División Apertura championship and the 2009 Copa Libertadores.

[1] [2][3][4] He was an excellent student at school, and was admitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, but his career as a football player eventually forced him to abandon his studies.

[4] As a young man Sabella was politically active in the left-wing Peronist Youth and worked to aid the urban poor in the slums.

He stated, "I felt a growing need to be always on the side of solidarity and of the distribution of wealth for a fairer, more egalitarian society, in which we can all have equal opportunities.

"[4] As a footballer, Sabella rose through the junior divisions of River Plate in the early 1970s, when his position of attacking midfielder was covered by Norberto Alonso.

Subsequently, Sabella, together with Marcelo Trobbiani, José Daniel Ponce and Miguel Ángel Russo, made up the solid midfield of the Estudiantes team that went on to win two back-to-back championship titles.

When Bilardo was put in charge of the Argentina national team, Sabella competed for his place with veterans Norberto Alonso and Ricardo Bochini, as well as younger players like Carlos Daniel Tapia, Jorge Burruchaga and Diego Maradona.

[11][12] Sabella was originally set to be the new coach of UAE League team Al-Jazira Club but backed out of the agreement after the Argentine Football Association (AFA) had shown interest in him.

Argentina finished the tournament as runners-up after losing the final to Germany 1–0 through an extra time goal scored by Mario Götze.

"[4] In an interview he gave to La Garganta Poderosa, an Argentine alternative media outlet, he posed before a chalkboard with a "Dream Team" made up not of football players, but left-wing activists who have been killed or have gone missing since the return of democracy in 1983, many of them young victims of police violence.