Claudio Tapia was honored by CONMEBOL as the AFA president was given the South American Football Order of Honor.
Tapia and the entire Argentina national team were present in Paraguay as CONMEBOL honored them for their achievements. They were all present at CONMEBOL’s “Noche de las Estrellas” or “Night of the stars” as CONMEBOL honored the World Cup champions. The AFA president spoke to every one in attendance, here is what he had to say:
“Many thanks to everyone for this honor. To our players, our coaching staff and every one of them. No doubt, it is always in adversity where you can see the character, where you can see the personality, it’s where men emerge.
“And these boys, with a lot of manhood, gave us the joy that I think we have all dreamed of, that we all hoped for and that many Argentine’s all around the world and also so many people who longed for and wanted the Argentina national teams to be world champions.
“This was achieved by you and I believe that credit also goes to our coaching staff. To all the coaching staff, in just five years they have achieved titles in youth and senior national teams. It’s the result of the work they do with the AFA’s national team project.
“This award has a lot of value. But it is really the value of all our players that gave us the possibility to feel the best in the world. And to to be able to celebrate because South America had not achieved it for a long time, because the last five, six World Cups belonged to the Europeans.
“Many congratulations to every one who works in the AFA, to each one of those who accompany our different national teams and especially to these players and to the number 10, the best player in the world.”
Prior to receiving the award, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez had this to say about the AFA president:
“In terms of management, Argentina was an orphan. Since 2016, the only person who didn’t give up was Claudio Tapia. I asked him to come closer and be with the players. He generated a different, close leadership and with determination.”
