"There is a generational change in the selection of Uruguay and we understood that it should have a leader at the height", Ignacio Alonso, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, does not spare words to explain and clarify what were the reasons that led him to offer Marcelo Bielsa the position of coach of the selection of his country, the Celeste.
As if he needed them, as if the long journey of the Argentine coach in the national teams of Argentina and Chile were not necessary. Nor the worldwide recognition he obtained for his work at Athletic Bilbao, Olympique de Marseille and Leeds United, among other European teams he managed. Nor the prestige he had already gained in South America as a driver for Newell's and Vélez. Alonso has yet to give reasons.
They question him that he has not chosen a Uruguayan coach. But while some coaches born on the other side of the Rio de La Plata slip their nationalism with suspicion, on the other hand they also understand that Uruguay hired a world-class technical director, a top coach.
In dialogue with Clarín, in Montevideo, and after having received Bielsa at the Celeste Complex and in full organization of the press conference this Wednesday at the Centenario Stadium, where the Rosario will be officially presented, Alonso explains: "Uruguay has necessarily opened up, it is a small country and it has to have an open head to have contact with the best in the world. "
Uruguay received a blow in the World Cup in Qatar: it arrived as a candidate and was eliminated in the first round. Photo: Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP.
Ignacio Alonso Labat is an economist and agricultural producer. He is 44 years old and became president of the AUF in 2019. He assures that there is no controversy because "that simple criterion is applied, a small, open country, with obligatory insertion and mandatory vocation and international, internationalist. In all aspects. Also in this, and it seems to me that the Uruguayan coaches in that are up to the task. Any Uruguayan coach was up to the task." But Alonso leaned towards Bielsa.
The leader of the AUF confirmed to Clarín that "there is a mutual" agreement for Bielsa to also take care of the U23 team that will seek to qualify for the Olympic Games and, if he succeeds, El Loco will go for his second gold medal (he won one with Argentina, in 2004). He also said that "Bielsa is going to live in Montevideo (NdeR: it would be in Miramar Park, near the Complex), but because of his activity he will be out of the country for a long time." The Rosario has planned a tour to meet with Uruguayan players.
Bielsa arrives in Uruguay with his entire coaching staff. Photo: Clive Brunskill / POOL / AFP.
Alonso emphasizes the bond that unites Uruguayan football with the Argentine in first place (he says that he celebrated the title of the National Team in Qatar "for Messi and because there was a lot of desire to beat the Europeans"), in second with the santafesino and in third with the Rosario, specifically. And that the adaptation for Bielsa to the Uruguayan culture will be very simple: "I know that he has great respect for our people."
"At least with us, he has had an absolutely different treatment, that he has been a gentleman at all times and that has shown us his human quality. He has the conviction of being in the right place and for us he is the right coach, "concludes Alonso, who has just closed the most important contract for South American football of national teams of the last decade.
From Montevideo, special envoys
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