The executive secretary of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), Jorge Casals, said today that there is a “great hope” for the hiring of Marcelo Bielsa, who will be officially presented tomorrow as the new coach of the selected “Charrua”. He was against former captain Diego Lugano’s statements about Argentina world champions in Qatar 2022.
“We wanted to make a leap in quality and that is why we sought out Marcelo (Bielsa). We hope that at the end of his relationship with AUF he leaves us a legacy, just like the maestro (Oscar) Tabrez did and the way Bielsa himself does for every place he passes through”, Casales explained in a conversation with Telam Radio.
The executive secretary of the AUF acknowledged that the talks were protracted and confirmed that the contract with the Argentine coach was completed only on Monday, with the relationship ending after the next World Cup in 2026 or the last qualifying match, failing to achieve classification. In the event of.
“The negotiations took longer than usual, it was a bit more complicated. Biela is a coach with a lot of experience and in his last years at very important clubs in Europe he was used to signing contracts with clauses and some contingencies that we had to Refine, accept or delete”, he acknowledged.
Casals recalled that after Tábarez’s departure the AUF tried to appoint former River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo, although he clarified that “he was in the second phase” and before the election of Diego Alonso. “Now we’re looking for something else to do with Bayesa,” he said.
“We want to compete at the highest level and we understand that it is a team and players to develop what the coach wants. The truth is that after the fiasco with Marcelo (Bielsa) we didn’t have to do much, because He seems to have admiration for Uruguay, has been here for a long time and has a very good knowledge of our country from a social and sporting point of view”, said the manager.
This knowledge of Uruguayan football—and his performance at the previous World Cup in Qatar—were—according to Casales—the main factors for Bielsa “first agreeing to meet with us and then we could move forward” until he was hired.
Finally, when asked about the statements of former Uruguayan national team defender Diego Lugano, who said that Argentina had arbitration assistance to become world champions in Qatar 2022, the executive secretary of the AUF responded emphatically: ” I don’t even know if I said, I only read it for the headlines. But of course we didn’t agree, because Argentina was a deserved champion”.
