Marcelo Gallardo

Gallardo made his international debut for Argentina in 1994 against Chile and made 44 appearances and scored 13 goals.

He was a member of the squad that won a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games, and that finished second in the 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup, and at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was also in the Argentina squads for the 1995 and 1997 editions of the Copa América, as well as the 1998 and 2002 editions of the FIFA World Cup.

In 1999, Gallardo was snapped up by Monaco. In his first season in Europe, Gallardo proved his worth and played 28 games, scoring eight goals, partnering with Ludovic Giuly in midfield.

After making 102 appearances and scoring 18 goals for Monaco, Gallardo returned to his old club River Plate as club captain, he helped them win another Clausura in 2004.

Marcello Gallardo was bought by the Parisian club PSG for an undisclosed fee in January 2007. Paris Saint-Germain signed a two-year contract with Marcelo and made his debut in a 3–0 cup win against Nîmes on 7 January.

On 13 January 2007, he played his first Ligue 1 match for PSG against Valenciennes.

On 29 January 2008, Gallardo was presented as the newest member of D.C. United. With a 2008 salary of $1.87 million, Gallardo was the highest-paid player in United history and was its first Designated Player. Gallardo had the third-largest salary in MLS for 2008, behind English midfielder David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy ($6.5 million guaranteed) and Mexican forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire ($2.67 million). He scored his first league goal for United on 5 April 2008 against Toronto FC. On 17 and 19 July Gallardo underwent surgery for a sports hernia, which ruled him out for most of the 2008 MLS season. In February 2009 he left D.C. United and returned for the third time to his old club River Plate.

In 2010, he signed at Nacional de Montevideo in the Uruguayan league. On 12 June 2011, Gallardo played his last match to win the Uruguayan tournament, making him one of the few players to win a championship or league in every team that he played. He retired as a player, and was hired a few days later as new manager of Nacional, his first job as a football manager.

On 6 June 2014, Gallardo was presented as the new manager of River Plate following the controversial resignation of Ramón Díaz on 27 May. Key players from the previous tournament, Carlos Carbonero, Manuel Lanzini, and Cristian Ledesma left the club, while players relegated by Ramón Díaz such as Carlos Sánchez and Rodrigo Mora returned. River Plate only bought two players: an attacking midfielder, Leonardo Pisculichi (who had been relegated to second division with Argentinos Juniors) and goalkeeper Julio Chiarini (from Instituto de Córdoba).

River eliminated Boca with a lone goal from Leonardo Pisculichi in the second leg played at the Monumental. In the 2014 Copa Sudamericana Finals, Pisculichi scored once again to draw 1–1 against Atlético Nacional in the away leg at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot. Defenders Gabriel Mercado and Germán Pezzella, in the span of four minutes, scored with headers in the second leg at the Monumental, giving River Plate a 2–0 win and its first international title since 1997, remaining unbeaten in the competition. Marcelo Gallardo became the first River Plate player to win an international title both as a player and a coach. Following the end of the game, Gallardo dedicated the win to his mother, who had died shortly before the second game against Boca Juniors.

In early 2015, Gallardo's River won the 2015 Recopa Sudamericana against 2014 Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo de Almagro, by beating them 1–0 at home in the first leg, then once again 1–0 in the second leg, both goals scored by Carlos Sánchez.

River Plate participated again in the 2016 Copa Libertadores as the defending champions. After advancing to the Round of 16, the team was eliminated by Independiente del Valle, who would later finish the tournament as runners-up.

In mid 2016, Gallardo's River won the 2016 Recopa Sudamericana against 2015 Copa Sudamericana champions Independiente Santa Fe, by beating them 2–1 at home in the second leg after a scoreless first leg, adding yet another international title to his tenure as the team's coach.

In December 2016, Gallardo led River to win the 2015–16 Copa Argentina. This marked Gallardo's first domestic cup as manager. By winning the competition, River Plate won the right to play in the 2017 Copa Libertadores and the 2016 Supercopa Argentina against 2016 Primera División champion Lanús, where it suffered a 3–0 defeat.

At the end of 2018, River Plate once more beat their historic rivals Boca Juniors in the 2018 Copa Libertadores Finals. It was the first time two Argentine teams faced each other in a Libertadores final and the last final of the competition played with a two-legged home and away format, in spite of the second match being played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium due to River fans attacking Boca Juniors' players at the surroundings of the Monumental Stadium on the day the second leg match was supposed to be played at first. River and Boca drew the first match 2–2 at La Bombonera with goals by Lucas Pratto and Carlos Izquierdoz (own goal). The second match at the Bernabéu ended with a 1–1 draw, with Pratto once again scoring the goal for River and thus went into extra time. River ended up winning 3–1 with goals by Juan Fernando Quintero and Gonzalo "Pity" Martínez.

After winning 2019 Recopa Sudamericana, Marcelo Gallardo became the most successful River Plate coach in history with ten titles, surpassing Ramón Díaz's nine official titles. He's also the most successful coach at the international stage in the club's history, with a total of seven international titles won (2 Copa Libertadores 2015 & 2018, 1 Copa Sudamericana 2014, 3 Recopa Sudamericana 2015, 2016 & 2019 and 1 Suruga Bank Championship 2015). The fact that in his tenure he has achieved more international honours than the club had gotten in its whole history before him, adding to the successive victories over arch rivals Boca Juniors, has led the press and fans alike to consider Gallardo as the greatest coach in River Plate's history.