Editing Daniel Passarella (section)

== Club career ==
[[File:Passarella 1981.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Passarella playing for River Plate, 1981]]

Passarella was born in [[Chacabuco, Buenos Aires]]<!-- DO NOT LINK SEPARATELY, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->. He started his career at [[Club Atlético Sarmiento (Junín)|Sarmiento]] of [[Junín, Buenos Aires]],<!-- DO NOT LINK SEPARATELY, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance --> in 1971. He played there until 1973, when he joined [[Club Atlético River Plate|River Plate]]. Playing for ''Los Millonarios'', he was constantly starting to be called up to the Argentina national team.

After his good performances at the [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982 World Cup]], he joined [[Serie A]] side [[ACF Fiorentina|Fiorentina]] in the summer of 1982. At the Italian club, he scored 11 goals during the [[1985–86 Serie A|1985–86 season]], a record for a defender at the time, although the goal tally was surpassed by [[Marco Materazzi]] in the [[2000–01 Serie A|2000–01 season]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Bagnati |first=Giuseppe |date=27 October 2009 |title=I difensori e il vizio del gol Facchetti il top, poi Matrix |trans-title=Goals and defenders: Facchetti the best one, Materazzi just behind him |url=http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/26-10-2009/i-difensori-vizio-gol--601754131334.shtml |language=it |access-date= 2 August 2017}}</ref>

In 1986, he joined [[Internazionale Milano F.C.|Internazionale]], where he ended his Italian playing career in 1988. After his successful spell in the [[Serie A]], he returned to River Plate, where he played until his retirement.

He was called ''"El Gran Capitán"'' ('the Great Captain', the nickname of the Argentinian independence hero, [[José de San Martín]]),''"El Kaiser"'' (an allusion to German defender [[Franz Beckenbauer]]) or ''"El Caudillo"'' ('the Chief')<ref>{{cite web |last=Ferrara |first=Benedetto|url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2000/10/05/ecco-el-caudillo-uomo-delle-sfide.html |title= Ecco El Caudillo l' uomo delle sfide |trans-title=Tha Caudillo the man of challenges |date=5 October 2000 |website= Repubblica.it|access-date= 2 August 2017}}</ref> because of his leadership ability, his passion, and his organisational prowess on the field. He was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays. He was the all-time highest-scoring defender, with 134 goals in 451 matches, a record that was later broken by Dutch player [[Ronald Koeman]].<ref name="iffhd"/>

His aerial game was effective both defensively and in attack. Despite his average height of 1.73 m, he frequently scored headers. He was also a noted [[Free kick (association football)|free-kick]] and [[Penalty kick (association football)|penalty]] specialist. Furthermore, he was known for using elbows against rivals whilst managing to avoid the referee's gaze.