On SKAI’s “All In” show, Sebastián Leto reveals a side of himself beyond the bench and the court—sharing his hobbies, thoughts, weaknesses, and his little girl.
Read the full first part of the interview given by the coach of Kifisia Tutu Deals to Elena Papadopoulou:
I want an adjective that describes you—something that truly captures who you are.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
I’m a good guy—at least, I think so. That’s how I am when people get to know me and see the real Sebastian.
We said we’d do an interesting interview. I want one word.
Seba is a… good guy.
Is he a crazy guy?
No, I think we’re all a little crazy. Who isn’t?
I asked Katsouranis to get you in the mood. We host the show together, and I told him I was going to interview Sebastián Leto, and he laughed and said, “He’s crazy!”
Yeah, but in a good way.
Yeah, of course in a good way.
I go crazy in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way, just like everyone else. I’ve had an amazing career; I believe that if I hadn’t had all those problems, I definitely would have had a much longer career, but I have to be honest—I really love being a coach. I really enjoy being with the players. They listen to you, and you teach them. If you’d asked Sebastián 15 years ago if he’d ever coach a player…
If you’d told Sebastián that he’d be coaching players, I’d have bet he’d definitely be doing something else. But now I really, really enjoy it— really, really enjoy being with them, being a coach, and striving to find the best way to win the game or help them play better—and when that happens, it’s amazing. It gives you more fulfillment internally, as a coach than as a player, because sometimes, as a player, you play, you win a game, and in reality, you’re thinking about other things.
But as a coach…
Other things… You don’t think the same way as a player, and sometimes the players don’t even know which team they’re playing against. Who the opponent is, or the fact that for them it’s normal to pick up the points, but for the coach now, I know all the players, I know all the teams, I know I’ve watched our games twice after they ended, and I care a lot about the result, so I have to say that I really enjoy being a coach.
I believe you have to be selfish. If a player isn’t selfish, that means something. You have to be. Sure, it’s not tennis. I was a player who was always thinking about winning—it didn’t matter who I was up against.
Is it the same now? I want to ask you how you make the transition from the selfish Leto to Coach Leto, who can’t be selfish—or can he?
No, that’s impossible. A coach can’t be selfish; a coach has to think about everyone—even the players, the people who work at the club—a coach has to manage them all. When you’re a player, you can be selfish if you don’t care about something—you can say, “Okay, I don’t care,” because you don’t see the consequences of that. Now, we have to analyze and care about everything. Sure, from my own perspective, I used to be like that—I didn’t care about myself, about my role as a player. I guess shifting to this mindset is a huge change. 100%. That happened after my injury, when I was 25—that’s when my life changed, my mindset changed…
You mean in your mind…
Yes, and in my knee, too—I became more professional; I cared more about things, for sure. After that, my daughter changed me; I believe that happens to everyone when a baby comes into your life. You have to care about something and someone else… Absolutely, and that’s my priority, so whatever I do now, I do it with her in mind, and maybe before, I used to think: “Let’s go grab a drink,” and that’s the dilemma of life—because on the one hand, you enjoy it, but when you have to take on responsibility and care for someone, it’s important to make that change.
Which team does she support? Leto’s team?
Yes, 100%—that’s really nice. Because, of course, she has her Kifissia jersey; she supports Kifissia; she was here when we won the championship—everywhere—and she…
Does she play soccer?
No, I try to get her into it, but she doesn’t want to; she prefers artists or painters, and when we lose a game, she tells me, “Don’t worry, don’t worry—you played amazingly.”
So with that, all the craziness I have, all the anger I have—because after a game, if you don’t get the result you want, that little phrase gives you the energy and calm to realize that sometimes this job is important, the coach is important, the soccer player is important, but your daughter and your life—the lives of your family—are the most important of all.
Is she left-handed or right-handed? Because her father was left-footed.
Yes, but I’m right-handed. I’m right-handed—left foot, right hand. In tennis or ping-pong, I’m right-handed.
Do you play tennis and ping-pong?
Yes, I do.
Is that your hobby?
It used to be—I was really good, really good
At tennis?
As a singles player. At tennis, yes, and at paddle tennis too—I play very well.
Did you also paint back in the day?
Yes, yes, when I was young, I really liked to paint, and Rebecca and I did a lot of paintings together—she liked it, too.
Do you dance, too?
No.
Do you know how to dance…
I know how to dance, but I’m really bad at it. But like every Argentine—every Argentine or every player from South America—they know how to dance.
What kind of dance?
But it’s one thing to know how to dance and think you know how to dance, and another to actually dance well. I think I dance really well. But the reality is that’s not true.
It’s true, but okay, I have my moments. It depends on the time, it depends on the place. I like tango at the disco. I know how to dance tango, but of course I prefer salsa and reggaeton.
Read the second part of the interview that Sebastián Leto gave to Elena Papadopoulou for SKAI’s All In show:
(Editor’s note: Commenting first on what happened in the match against Olympiacos…)
Weren’t you angry?
Sure, yes, of course. Who wouldn’t get angry? Everyone does, but I firmly believe that if you don’t have a clear picture in your mind of how the game went, I could get very angry for many other reasons regarding what happened in the game.
So I tried to focus at that moment on what my team did, on what the people who went there did, and on the players who fought hard. So, at that moment, I truly believe they deserve my attention.
I go to the part that was most interesting to me. It takes me two or three minutes, but I believe I’m making the right assessment, because for me, the main thing was how my player performed in that game, and not to focus on other things.
How do you convince a player like Pombo or a player like Leto…
I’m a big believer in how you approach the player. Without a doubt, the chemistry you build with the player is key. If you make them believe in it, if you make them understand that this is the right way, they’ll do it—they’ll give it their all. Is it easy? Of course not.
When the season is coming to an end and you want some players to leave—because that’s just how soccer is—you have to make changes; some leave, some come in. How does that feel for you?
It’s not easy. If you look back, last year I had Villafañez and Pérez. As for Pérez, I don’t need to describe how he plays; I don’t need to describe Villafañez as a player—and Villafañez is my friend. Even if he’s not talking to me right now—but that’s okay, that’s just how it is—he’ll come around, because I appreciate him.
I believe he’s my friend and that he helped me get promoted from the second division, and I’ve accomplished a lot with him as a coach. Once you tell them or explain to them that they weren’t part of our plans for next season or that we don’t need them anymore, of course it’s not easy.
(Editor’s note: Commenting on the “double” against Heraklis)
Yes, a very good game.
You did something I’d call… a masterclass, a masterclass in coaching. You made, I think, three substitutions in the 58th minute. Ten minutes later, you took out the player who had just come in as a substitute. You brought on Benny, then took Benny off and brought on another player. You moved Kyriopoulos. The goals came from the players you brought on. Wasn’t that… a masterclass?
You have to help your team; you have to help your players. A coach’s job is very easy: I put the 11 players on the field, they move right, left, right, left—and that’s it. That’s the coach’s job: to see when the right moment is to step in.
Wasn’t that… a masterclass?
Knowing when is the right time to help the team—and of course, if I make a substitution and he didn’t do what he was supposed to do for the team at that moment, I take responsibility, and I did it, and it went well—though maybe it could have gone wrong, and we could have lost the game, and then maybe you’d ask me how I let that happen, 'How could the coach take him out after eight minutes?'
Yes, but I believe you have to help the team. We made the substitutions, they scored the goal, Polykratis provided the assist, and Kyriopoulos played an amazing game, so everything was perfect. But I believe that even if things hadn’t gone perfectly, my players know that whoever comes into the game or whoever is playing has to help the team. That’s the most important thing.
I want to see how you think as a coach. You put Benny in and took him out 10 minutes later. Was that a mistake on Sebastian Leto’s part, or did Benny not give you what you needed? How did that play out for you?
It wasn’t a mistake to put him in. I may say that, but it wasn’t a mistake to put him in. Unfortunately, he didn’t give us what we needed at that moment, and I had to react immediately.
I have to help. I believed at that moment, in that situation, that I had to help the team. Taking out Benny, who is a consummate professional—and if you look at the next game he played and the game against Olympiacos—it’s nothing personal. It’s just that at that moment, I thought it was best for the team, and it worked.
You understand now, and you’re just buying time to respond. Will you become a better coach than you were as a player?
I have the time and the opportunity to learn, because I believe I need to learn as much as I can—coaches have to keep improving; it’s not the same (as with players). I hope—and I truly wish—to have a better career than I did as a player, definitely. I really do hope so.
Where’s the ceiling?
I don’t set limits, but I’d really like—for example, I watched AEK – Real Madrid… to play at that level, to face those kinds of matches, those kinds of tournaments—to reach the highest level possible for me—that would be one of my goals.
To get to the point where you play for a Greek team in the Champions League or become the coach of Real Madrid someday?
Let’s start with the… first one, and then we’ll see. Let’s start with the Greek team… and we’ll see if we can get there. But, I mean, that level, that competition is amazing, so I’d really like to do that.
You can pick a player from any team you want and put him on the Kifissia roster. Who would it be?
Pantelidis.
Pavlos Pantelidis?
Let him come back, recover, and join us.
Okay, that’s a bit sentimental.
Yes, but I know what Pavlos is capable of. I believe that, unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance. I think he can do very well at Panathinaikos; I hope he does amazingly well at Panathinaikos.
Yeah, get well soon.
But anyway, I believe that if there’s one position we’re missing, it’s a position with those characteristics.
Is there a moment you’d like to relive?
I think either when we won the cup or also when I got injured. When I got injured, we were in first place with Panathinaikos, I was playing amazingly well, I’d like to relive that moment and maybe handle it differently—and I know how to do it—but I’d like to relive that period because it was so important to me. Winning titles, scoring goals in the cup final, giving the fans what they’ve wanted for so many years—that’s the feeling I’d love to experience again.
Thank you very much.
Real Madrid—and nowhere else? At Real Madrid, we’ll go and talk about all of this…
