1986 World Cup winning Argentina manager Carlos Bilardo tests positive for COVID-19

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 23, 2011, Argentina's football team manager Carlos Bilardo speaks on his mobile phone during a training session in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires. - Former Argentina's coach Bilardo, who coached the Argentine national team that won the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Buenos Aires press reported on June 26, 2020. (Photo by Juan MABROMATA / AFP)


Former Argentina manager, Carlos Bilardo, who led the team to victory in the 1986 FIFA World Cup has tested positive for coronavirus. Initial reports carried by the Argentine media suggest that he 82-year-old Bilardo is asymptomatic and is being treated in a nursing home where 10 other people have tested positive for the dreaded COVID-19. He is already suffering from a brain disorder.

Estudiantes La Plata, the club where he played and managed later,  even sent out a quick word of encouragement on Twitter.

“We are in this match with you Carlos!” they tweeted on Friday.

Bilardo’s most prominent contribution to the game of football was popularising the 3-5-2 formation for success in mainstream football. He did that with his Argentine side which boasted of names like Diego Maradona and went on to win the World Cup. He also led Argentina to finals four years later in 1990.

Earlier, Bilardo was admitted to intensive care in July 2019 as he was diagnosed with Kakim-Adams syndrome.