Diego Simeone is playing no part in Brazil 2014 but is the hottest manager in football and the leading candidate to take over either Spain, if Vicente del Bosque stands down, or Argentina, should Alejandro Sabella fail to survive this weekend’s World Cup quarter final against Belgium. Simeone has moved to the top of the game’s wanted list after inspiring a comparatively low-budget Atletico Madrid to beat Real and Barcelona to La Liga title and reach the Champions League Final. The 44-year-old Argentinian has long . harboured the ambition of managing his own country, while sources close . to him in Buenos Aires are leaking word of provisional enquiries from . Spain. Mistake: Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone inadvertently told Jorge 'El Topo' Lopez's wife of the news . National pride: He could be brought in to coach Lionel Messi and Argentina, with Alejandro Sabella's future in doubt . New man? Spain have made tentative enquiries about him succeeding Vicente Del Bosque . Simeone is understood . to have an escape clause in his contract with Atletico and to be . monitoring the fallout of coaches from the World Cup. Although . defending champions Spain were astonishingly eliminated after only two . matches in Brazil – as were England, albeit less surprisingly -  del . Bosque, like Roy Hodgson, has been given the continued backing of his . national association. However, . the 63-year-old Del Bosque is being allowed time to discuss with his . family whether to stay in charge for the remaining two years of his . contract. A definitive statement from him was expected this week but . none has been forthcoming. If . there are any doubts Spain will need his successor in charge for their . 2016 defence of the European Championship, also won by Del Bosque, and . to begin the rebuilding process for Russia 2018. With . Pep Guardiola making it clear the has no desire to swap the daily . involvement of club management – be it with Bayern Munich, Barcelona or . anywhere else – for the international game, Simeone has come into . intensifying focus as potentially Spain’s first foreign head coach for . more than half a century (Jorge Santamairia, former Real Madrid giant . who took charge in the 80s, held dual nationality and played for Spain). Also, of course, Spanish is Simeone’s native language. Meanwhile, . Sabella’s position with Argentina has already been compromised by a . much-publicised dressing-room revolt, apparently led by Lionel Messi, . which has wrought a change of tactics en route to the clash with . Belgium’s galaxy of Premier League stars. It . is thought that only the winning of the World Cup – ideally for him . against arch-rivals Brazil in the Final in the Maracana on Sunday week – . could save Sabella’s job. And even then his survival would not be . guaranteed. Past times: Simeone led Atletico to La Liga glory on the final day of the season at the Nou Camp against Messi . Gone: But star striker Diego Costa is joining Chelsea for £32m this summer . Simeone amassed . 106 caps for Argentina, admitting that he was embarrassed at being the . first to surpass the tally of the great Diego Maradona. He described . himself as ‘the midfield player with a knife between my teeth.’ He . played in three World Cups, and during France 98 David . Beckham was infamously sent off for donkey-kicking him in retaliation . for a heavy foul. Simeone . confessed later that he exaggerated his reaction to that incident. He . is a notoriously fiery character and faces a touchline ban by UEFA for . going into meltdown when Atletico conceded a late equaliser to Real Madrid in . the Champions League final, going on to lose in extra time. He . is nicknamed Colo, historically a Latin American insult for those of . mixed peasant stock but now a chav-like word for his style of dress. Following . his retirement at the end of a varied playing career in Argentina and . Italy, coaching successes at home led to Simeone’s appointmen by . Atletico three years ago. He . is being advised to cash in now on his successs in Madrid which will . be near-impossible for him to sustain against the wealth of Real and . Barca in Spain, or in Europe in competition with the financial giants of . the Premier League and PSG in France. Atletico’s . sale of Diego Costa to Chelsea has given rise to reports in Paris of . Jose Mourinho facing the sack and Simeone following his . goalscorer-in-chief to Stamford Bridge. While that speculation appears highly fanciful, Spain and Argentina are keeping the Simeone option open.
Simeone is the hottest property in management at the moment .
Argentine led Atletico to La Liga title and Champions League final .
Spain and Argentina are interested in taking him on as boss .
Diego Simeone is playing no part in Brazil 2014 but is the hottest manager in football and the leading candidate to take over either Spain, if Vicente del Bosque stands down, or Argentina, should Alejandro Sabella fail to survive this weekend’s World Cup quarter final against Belgium. Simeone has moved to the top of the game’s wanted list after inspiring a comparatively low-budget Atletico Madrid to beat Real and Barcelona to La Liga title and reach the Champions League Final. The 44-year-old Argentinian has long . harboured the ambition of managing his own country, while sources close . to him in Buenos Aires are leaking word of provisional enquiries from . Spain. Mistake: Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone inadvertently told Jorge 'El Topo' Lopez's wife of the news . National pride: He could be brought in to coach Lionel Messi and Argentina, with Alejandro Sabella's future in doubt . New man? Spain have made tentative enquiries about him succeeding Vicente Del Bosque . Simeone is understood . to have an escape clause in his contract with Atletico and to be . monitoring the fallout of coaches from the World Cup. Although . defending champions Spain were astonishingly eliminated after only two . matches in Brazil – as were England, albeit less surprisingly -  del . Bosque, like Roy Hodgson, has been given the continued backing of his . national association. However, . the 63-year-old Del Bosque is being allowed time to discuss with his . family whether to stay in charge for the remaining two years of his . contract. A definitive statement from him was expected this week but . none has been forthcoming. If . there are any doubts Spain will need his successor in charge for their . 2016 defence of the European Championship, also won by Del Bosque, and . to begin the rebuilding process for Russia 2018. With . Pep Guardiola making it clear the has no desire to swap the daily . involvement of club management – be it with Bayern Munich, Barcelona or . anywhere else – for the international game, Simeone has come into . intensifying focus as potentially Spain’s first foreign head coach for . more than half a century (Jorge Santamairia, former Real Madrid giant . who took charge in the 80s, held dual nationality and played for Spain). Also, of course, Spanish is Simeone’s native language. Meanwhile, . Sabella’s position with Argentina has already been compromised by a . much-publicised dressing-room revolt, apparently led by Lionel Messi, . which has wrought a change of tactics en route to the clash with . Belgium’s galaxy of Premier League stars. It . is thought that only the winning of the World Cup – ideally for him . against arch-rivals Brazil in the Final in the Maracana on Sunday week – . could save Sabella’s job. And even then his survival would not be . guaranteed. Past times: Simeone led Atletico to La Liga glory on the final day of the season at the Nou Camp against Messi . Gone: But star striker Diego Costa is joining Chelsea for £32m this summer . Simeone amassed . 106 caps for Argentina, admitting that he was embarrassed at being the . first to surpass the tally of the great Diego Maradona. He described . himself as ‘the midfield player with a knife between my teeth.’ He . played in three World Cups, and during France 98 David . Beckham was infamously sent off for donkey-kicking him in retaliation . for a heavy foul. Simeone . confessed later that he exaggerated his reaction to that incident. He . is a notoriously fiery character and faces a touchline ban by UEFA for . going into meltdown when Atletico conceded a late equaliser to Real Madrid in . the Champions League final, going on to lose in extra time. He . is nicknamed Colo, historically a Latin American insult for those of . mixed peasant stock but now a chav-like word for his style of dress. Following . his retirement at the end of a varied playing career in Argentina and . Italy, coaching successes at home led to Simeone’s appointmen by . Atletico three years ago. He . is being advised to cash in now on his successs in Madrid which will . be near-impossible for him to sustain against the wealth of Real and . Barca in Spain, or in Europe in competition with the financial giants of . the Premier League and PSG in France. Atletico’s . sale of Diego Costa to Chelsea has given rise to reports in Paris of . Jose Mourinho facing the sack and Simeone following his . goalscorer-in-chief to Stamford Bridge. While that speculation appears highly fanciful, Spain and Argentina are keeping the Simeone option open.
but is the hottest manager in football and the Real and Barcelona to La Liga title and reach the guaranteed. Past times: Simeone led Atletico to Madrid in . the Champions League final, going on and Argentina are keeping the Simeone option