Khaberni - The Argentine channel ESPN published a special report discussing the late coach Ricardo Carugati, and considered the upcoming World Cup encounter between Jordan and Argentina as a match to revive the memory of a man who connected the two teams decades ago.
The report says that Ricardo Carugati, an Argentine coach who made a significant part of his career in the Middle East, managed this long before Jordan became a competitor to Argentina in the 2026 World Cup.
At the age of 39, Carugati turned a new page in his life when he won the “White Hats” competition in 1997, which allowed him to travel to Palestine as part of a United Nations mission.
In Gaza, amid a harsh reality of conflicts and deprivation, his mission was to spread football and help establish a national team.
Under his leadership, the Palestinian team took its first steps, and simply existing was an achievement in itself.
However, a notable achievement occurred in 1999 when the Palestinian team won the bronze medal in the football tournament at the Arab Games, after losing the semi-final against Jordan, which was later crowned as the champions.
His experience with the Nashama:
In 2000, after paving the way for Palestine's international participation, Carugati moved to a new experience, coaching the Jordanian team in April of the same year, at a time when it was nearly impossible to imagine that this team would one day face Argentina in a World Cup 26 years later.
He had the path laid out for a successful coaching career outside his homeland, but he did not manage to face the challenges of the World Cup 2002 qualifiers.
His death:
On February 7, 2001, while participating in a FIFA conference in Zurich, he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 44.
Less than a month after his departure, the Palestinian team played its first match in the World Cup qualifiers, drawing 1-1 away against Hong Kong on March 4.
Carugati did not see the fruits of his labor, but his legacy remains alive.
And his legacy will also be present when the Jordanian team – the last team he coached – meets his home country's team, Argentina, on June 27, 2026, in the final matches of Group J of the World Cup.
Carugati's statistics with the Nashama
According to Khaberni, Carugati coached the Nashama between May 13, 2000, and January 30, 2001, until his death.
Carugati coached the Nashama in 16 matches, winning 7 of them, drawing 4, and losing 5 matches, with a winning percentage of 44%.
