Coach Bielsa accepted to lead the Uruguayan national team.
The Uruguayan Football Federation posted a video welcoming coach Bielsa on its official account with the message: “The fans demand a new and emotional way of playing. It’s time for a change”.
Coach Bielsa will sign a 3-year contract, in which he is responsible for bringing Uruguay to the 2026 World Cup. Before that, Uruguay parted with coach Diego Alonso after the defeat at the 2022 World Cup. The team was nicknamed “La Celeste” ” failed to make it past the group stage when only ranked 3rd after Portugal and Korea.
In June, coach Bielsa and the Uruguay team had two friendly matches against Nicaragua and Cuba. Meanwhile, the South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers will begin in September.
Bielsa has a lot of experience leading national teams, especially in South America. He led the Argentine army from 1998-2004. The team was eliminated in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup before winning the 2004 Olympic gold medal in Athens, Greece. He left the Argentina team for personal reasons.
In the period 2007-2011, coach Bielsa also accepted to lead the Chile national team but did not have outstanding achievements.
At club level, the 67-year-old strategist has worked at Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Lille. He has been unemployed since February 2022 after being sacked by Leeds. After that, coach Bielsa had many offers but no suitable destination. There were rumors that Everton and Bournemouth pursued the Argentine strategist but failed.
Duy Luan | 07:50 May 16, 2023
