As if fate had come to the fore, on the same day that Lionel Messi received his third The Best, Jorge Griffa died, the man who made Newell's grow (where Leo took his first steps and has part of his heart) from the formation of youth when they stopped being footballers.
"Coque," he was called as a boy in Casilda, where he was born, about 50 kilometers from Rosario. "Maestro," he was called since he worked in the lower divisions. If a teacher is measured by what his students are, the man who left this world at the age of 88 had earned that nickname. Since yesterday, football has been indebted to that master who sowed the Argentine fields with stars and coaches of value to several teams.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jorge Bernardo Griffa. The Master, the undisputed symbol of Newell's, was a player, youth coach and the creator of the leper seedbed that gave enormous figures to the world. Your legacy will always be part of our history, may you rest in peace," was the statement with which Newell's broke the news of Griffa's death.
Forever in our hearts ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/R7lMU3RljC
— Newell's Juveniles (@NewellsJuvenil) January 15, 2024
"Jorge, I want to be a coach," said a young man who was not afraid to confront Griffa when he was in charge of the red-and-black youth team. Griffa knew him well. "You're going to get to train in the First Division, but first you're going to work with me and when the time comes, you're going to make the leap," the man told him. The young man, who was very young, accepted and placed himself in her protection. Let's learn. That young man was Marcelo Bielsa.
He accompanied the Fool throughout his apprenticeship. Also when Bielsa was already coach of Newell's First Division. Together they have countless anecdotes. Perhaps the most striking is the "discovery" of Chelsea's current manager.
Griffa and Bielsa had been told that in a town in Santa Fe called Murphy there was a young man "class of 72" who was six feet tall and was a striker for a club in the area. Griffa and Bielsa travelled by car to Murphy and arrived almost in the early hours of the morning. They beat them in the house they had been told and the teenager's parents welcomed them but told them that the boy was already sleeping. Griffa and Bielsa asked the owners not to wake him up but only wanted to see his legs. They were ushered into the bedroom, carefully pulled back the blankets, and the Master and the Fool smiled. He had footballer's legs. A few days later they sent a telegram summoning Mauricio Pochettino to report to a training session at Newell's.
Mauricio Pochettino visited the "Poche" Training
Center and experienced an exciting day where he was able to meet his mentor Jorge Griffa and tour the stadium where he was born as a player.
▶ https://t.co/fBYWUYwkiO pic.twitter.com/wolCCs7QY8
— Newell's Old Boys (@Newells) December 6, 2019
Griffa was a central marker. A 2, according to the denominations of its time. It was the 2nd of Newell's between 1954 and 1959 until its jump to Europe. Transoceanic transfers were not common at that time. You had to be very good for a European club to want to take a player. Those who wanted it were not wrong. Griffa was the centre-back of Atlético de Madrid from the time he arrived until 1969, then he played two years at Espanyol, and closed his time as a footballer.
What to do then? "I wanted to be a coach and I realized it wasn't for me and I dedicated myself to the lower divisions," he said in countless interviews.
From the back of the Atlético defense, he collaborated in the conquest of several titles, forming a granite block with club legends such as Calleja and Rivilla.
He was champion of the Copa del Generalísimo, the forerunner of what is now the Copa del Rey in 1960, 1961 and 1965. He was champion of the Spanish League in 1965-66. He was champion of the 1965 Cup Winners' Cup.
With the Argentine National Team he was champion of the South American Championship in 1959 in which the Albiceleste beat Pelé's Brazil, brand new winner of the World Cup in Sweden the previous year.
Griffa with Pochettino and Maxi Rodriguez
At Atlético he left a legacy. He recommended Iselín Santos Ovejero, from Vélez, who was also an emblem of the red-and-white defense. Then it was the time of Brazilian Luiz Pereira, another crack. In his ten years at Aleti he was the foreigner with the most appearances for the club, where he totalled 291 matches.
When he joined the smaller divisions of Newell's, he patiently and unhurriedly began to water the prolific land. Jorge Valdano, Gerardo Martino, Ricardo Giusti, Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo and Mauricio Pochettino, to mention only the best known, came out of his hands.
He had his technique. Clubs in Buenos Aires bought footballers. Griffa, on the other hand, would go out to look for them on the outskirts of Rosario and in the interior and take them to the club. He assured the clubs of origin a compensation if the footballer reached the First Division.
When Marcelo Bielsa formed that championship team in the early 90s, all the players had passed through his hands in the youth teams. Griffa gave Bielsa the raw material. And, in addition, he had already "educated" Bielsa as a coach. It was no small feat. He also ordered the refurbishment of the Bella Vista property that bears his name.
When Mauricio Macri took over the presidency of Boca, he took him to his club. From those youth teams came Ever Banega, Sebastián Battaglia, Fernando Gago, Carlos Tevez, Neri Cardozo, Nicolás Burdisso and Pablo Ledesma, among others. After a decade at Boca he was at Independiente (he promoted Esequiel Barco), for Mexico and since 2019 he was director of youth recruitment at Newell's.