The big dilemma: getting the coach right… Opinion, Last Tango)

The Copa America ejected six coaches, three from South America (Zago, Sánchez Bas, Garnero, and three from Concacaf (those from Mexico, the United States and Jamaica). And it left Dorival Junior (Brazil) and Fossati (Peru). This shows that the Cup is not a “preparatory” or “learning” tournament, as coaches suggested years ago. Everyone has already learned. Today, even Venezuela teaches. If you fail, you leave. But, as soon as the Cup is over, there is already a buzz about the Qualifiers, which will return soon, on September 5. The road to the World Cup is not the Silk Road either, it has already crushed nine coaches in only six games played.

There is one certainty: everyone will improve compared to the last match played, in November 2023. Chile, led by Gareca, should improve; Brazil, which is currently sixth, should also do so. The same goes for Paraguay, which already has an agreement with Gustavo Alfaroa shrewd one. If he left Costa Rica to go to the Albirroja it is because he realizes that he will find interesting material. And with a good squad, he is a coach who scores points. There are 12 games left and anything can happen. Except for Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, who are two laps ahead, the rest are all piled up. From fifth, Ecuador, to eighth, Chile, there are only three points. If you’re not careful…

Bolivia, trapped in a terrible present from which it cannot escape, shook off its drowsiness with two important news: One, it appointed Oscar Villegas, a national coach specialising in youth training without any professional titles won. “It is a ten-year project,” says the Federation. We will have to see what happens after the “ten years” when they lose three games. The other, set as the venue for the next home game the stadium of El Alto, a populous satellite city of La Paz at 4,150 meters above sea level. There, Bolivia would also receive Colombia on October 10, although it is not yet confirmed. The idea is clear: that the altitude will make up for the lack of football potential. We will have to see if it works. Altitude alone does not win, but there is an advantage, there is. Almost all the members of the Bolivian National Team are from Bolívar, The Strongest and Always Ready and live in La Paz, they are adapted to the altitude.

Villegas was, until his appointment, the manager of Always Ready, the local club of El Alto. There, in February, they beat Sporting Cristal 6-1 in the Libertadores. Then, in Lima, Cristal got even by 3-1. In other words, there was a seven-goal difference between the altitude and the plain.

Fernando Batistacoach of Venezuela, the first team to play there, made no excuses: “If it is authorized by FIFA or Conmebol, all the paperwork will have been presented. I have no complaints. We will have to prepare ourselves in the best way possible.”

The problem in Bolivia is described by Miguel Ángel Rimba, former right back of the Verde in the 1994 World Cup: “We have no players.” And he added a second problem: “Our game is slow.” The same thing happens to Peru: Paolo Guerrero, close to 41 years old, is playing because no one else can replace him.

Venezuela also has its quirks… The bright present shown in the Copa América was partly overshadowed by the presidential elections. It so happens that the head of the Federation, Jorge Giménez, has a close political and business relationship with the government of Nicolás Maduro and practically all the players have publicly or privately expressed their opposition to Chavismo. This is not new, it has been going on for some time and it generates tension in the Vinotinto. Above all, because the father of John Chancellor, a defender who played in the Copa in the United States, was arrested and is incommunicado. Carlos Chancellor is a dissident politician who was mayor of Bolívar State several times.

Paraguay, which suffered a lamentable tournament in the United States – three defeats – has already chosen its new coach: Gustavo Alfaro. It remains to be announced. It turns out that the Costa Rican Federation demanded compensation of 600,000 dollars from the former Ecuadorian coach and surely Alfaro intended that the Paraguayan Association should pay it (“I’m going, but if I have to break the contract, you pay,” he must have suggested). The haggling was tough, although it is fair: when coaches are removed early, they claim the entire contract. It should be reciprocal. The former coach of Ecuador, Arsenal, Boca and San Lorenzo, among others, will meet Julio Enciso, Micky Almirón, Ramón Sosa, Matías Rojas and, above all, Diego Gómez, five young players with enormous potential. If he gets the most out of them, good for Paraguay…

With Alfaro there will be seven Argentine coaches out of ten national teams: Scaloni (Argentina), Gareca (Chile), Lorenzo (Colombia), Bielsa (Uruguay), Batista (Venezuela), the aforementioned Alfaro and Sebastián Beccacece (Ecuador). They have passion, knowledge and training in their favour. But the fact that there are so many Argentine coaches around the world does not mean that they are all good.

Beccacece, to Ecuador

Is it well chosen? Beccacece…? As always, time will tell. The Rosario native has an advantage: he will succeed Félix Sánchez Bas. The Catalan was so annoyed in Ecuador that anyone who came after him would generate hope and have credit. But credit and confidence come from results. And they have to be achieved. Like Sánchez Bas, Beccacece has not been a footballer, which always takes away points. Having played and shared a dressing room is an experience that no course, no academy can replace. “He was an amateur footballer,” he clarifies, but that doesn’t add much, we all were.

His record doesn’t help him. In his eight years in the role he has only one laurel: champion of the Recopa Sudamericana with Defensa y Justicia, the club where he performed best. In general terms, things didn’t go well for him. He was in three big clubs: Universidad de Chile, Independiente and Racing. In all three he didn’t last very long and there were more downfalls than smiles. He was relegated in Spain with Elche and then he couldn’t get promoted.

In his favor: he is recognized as a scholar, passionate about football and tactics. And he will surely spend all his time thinking about the Ecuadorian National Team. However, it is not enough to say “he is crazy about football, he spends twenty hours a day thinking about the game.” You have to think well, and communicate better.. Against: he tends to be very impulsive and that has betrayed him on some occasions.

Tactics and work count, however, it has been proven that there is no aspect more important than group management, knowing how to generate mystique and create a harmonious environment. Klopp, Ancelotti, Ferguson, Telé Santana, Menotti, Scaloni himself, now Lorenzo and many other greats of the profession have set a precedent in this regard. Establishing an atmosphere of joy and unity is crucial to achieving success. The most important thing in football today is to get the coach right. We will see if Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia finally achieve this.

And Brazil…? The homeland of the jogo bonito is taking a long footballing nap, shaken every year by the conquest of the Libertadores by one of its clubs. But at the national team level there is a chaos that does not even generate news. It will surely qualify for the World Cup. Not doing so would be a Titanic or Twin Towers-type catastrophe. But it will have to pick itself up a lot and nobody dares to bet that it will be with Dorival Junior.

Meanwhile, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay watch from the stands.

Last Tango

Jorge Barraza

For THE TIME

@JorgeBarrazaOK

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