MIAMI, Florida – Thursday’s 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Final between Monterrey and Club America will not only feature some of the best players in the Concacaf region, but also two of its best coaches in Javier Aguirre of Monterrey and Santiago Solari of Club America.
Seventeen years may separate the ages of the 62-year-old Aguirre and the 45-year-old Solari, but there is no doubt that each manager has a profound respect for their counterpart.
For Solari, Aguirre’s spells throughout world football and his successes at both the club and national team levels make the Monterrey boss one of the most distinguished figures in the game.
“Monterrey has a very deep squad, so it’s difficult to highlight a single player because there are so many, but I will say that Aguirre is one of the masters of Mexican football, among others,” said Solari in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
“I know about his trajectory not only in Mexican football but also European football in which he was in different clubs, mostly in Spain. I have a great respect and great admiration for him, and so [on Thursday] with great humility we will try to lift this trophy against them,” said Solari.
As for Aguirre, when he sees the impact that Solari has already made in Mexican football in the short time that the Argentine has been in Liga MX, he is deeply impressed with Solari’s work as a manager and as a person.
“I admire Santiago Solari a lot. I admire him because although he is still young, he has done many good things here in Mexico,” said Aguirre in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
“As a player he was tremendous. He played for many important clubs, like Real Madrid, River Plate, in Italy, and as a coach here in Mexico he has done fantastically well. He had a very good but brief time at Real Madrid as a manager and has done a very admirable job in Mexico. Above all, he is a gentleman and a football man. His team reflects who he is. They play football well,” concluded Aguirre.
