Basile will honour club commitments ahead of Argentina job

ALFIO BASILE will start his second spell in charge of Argentina on September 15 after an agreement was made with his club side Boca Juniors.

The AFA were eager for Basile to take up the role as soon as possible but Boca wanted to keep him until after the second leg of the South American Recopa. Boca have got their wish and Basile will switch jobs a day after the second leg clash against Brazil’s Sao Paulo, following discussions between AFA president Julio Grondona and his Boca counterpart Mauricio Macri.

“Boca have made a very important contribution to the national team long-term and we also have time to organise ourselves,” said Macri.

“Basile will coach Boca until the Recopa, to be played on September 7 and 14, a very important title for us.”

Macri has not confirmed who Basile’s successor will be. “This solution gives us a long time to find an answer,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) have announced that former national team defender Jorginho will be assistant to new head coach Dunga.

The former Bayern Munich full-back’s only previous coaching experience came with America in this year’s Rio de Janeiro state tournament, where the team earned some good results, despite failing to clinch the title.

The 41-year-old played alongside Dunga at the 1990 World Cup and also in 1994 when Dunga skippered Brazil to their fourth World Cup triumph.

Jorginho was out of work and agreed terms with the CBF in a meeting with CBF president Ricardo Teixeira on Monday morning.

“I feel as if I’ve been named to play in the national team for the first time,” he said. “To make it into the national team is the dream of every player and I’m proud to work alongside Dunga.”

The first game of the new coaching set-up is a friendly with Norway in Oslo on August 16.