LIMA (AP) — Uruguay faces Peru on Friday for the World Cup qualifiers with a team trapped in the middle of a hurricane after the statements of retired star Luis Suárez, who complained about the alleged mistreatment that Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa has exercised on players and coaching staff.
Although the Celeste is in third place with 15 points, behind the leader Argentina and Colombia, the effect of Suárez’s statements caused this week the midfielder Agustín Canobbio, who was not called up after the Copa América, to point to Bielsa as a boss who “humiliates” his subordinates.
“El Loco” – as Bielsa, 69, is known for the demands he places on his work along with his explosive and dominant personality – has not made any statements at this time.
No one has denied Bielsa’s harsh regime which, as Suárez described, does not even allow the prop man, Edgardo Di Mayo, to go through the kitchen and have to make a detour to go eat in the grill area.
In recent days, statements, with nuances, began to arrive from various representatives of the national team.
Midfielder Federico Valverde indicated that what Suárez expressed “is all true” but added that with the Argentine coach “we have always resolved it by chatting.” Midfielder Nahitan Nández pointed out that “things happened,” although he clarified that they support Bielsa. Central defender José María Jiménez said that, although in coexistence “there were things that we did not feel comfortable about”… there is “an opportunity to solve things.”
It is the first time in the history of the Uruguayan team that a handful of players question the treatment of a coach, although friction in Bielsa’s career is not new, including a controversy when in 2010, as coach of the Chilean team, he greeted with reluctance to the then Chilean president Sebastián Piñera during his first term (2010-2014) and in 2012, as technical director of Athletic Bilbao, he denied greeting the then Prince Felipe during the Europa League final.
Uruguay arrives in Peru after a goalless draw with Paraguay and Venezuela in September matches. However, under the Bielsa era the celestials have managed to beat Brazil 2-0 after 22 years during the Copa América, in 2023 they also won 2-0 on a visit to Argentina in the qualifiers and are the team that has scored the most goals at the moment. marked his rivals, 13 goals, during the eliminatory process.
Bielsa and the Uruguayan coach of the Peruvian team, Jorge Fossati, have faced each other only once in 2004 during the Copa América, when Bielsa led the Argentine team and won 4-2 over the Celeste that Fossati coached at that time.
The former coach of the Peruvian national team, the Uruguayan Sergio Markarián, who coached Peru between 2010 and 2013, recalled that in the Blanquirroja “there has been no renewal process.” For this reason, he pointed out that “they have a squad reduced in players who can give predictable responses, four or five important players are missing and it is not clear who can replace them.”
Under Fossati’s direction, Peru drew 1-1 with Colombia and lost 1-0 to Ecuador on the last qualifying round. They are at the bottom of the table with three points and six points separate them from seventh place, which grants a ticket to the play-offs.
The match starts at 8:30 p.m. local night at the National Stadium in Lima.
AP
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