Marcelo Bielsa, coach of Uruguay but “fan” of Argentina: his great and romantic analysis of the World Cup in Qatar, Messi and the national team

Marcello Bielsa took over as the new DT of Uruguay and was presented at a press conference attended by local but also Argentine media. And in the midst of the always juicy statements of the coach, El Loco was asked for the first time about the Qatar World Cupthe conquest of the title by the Selection From Lionel Scaloni and the figure of Lionel Messi.

“I’m Argentinian, I’m proud to be Argentinian, I like being Argentinian. I love football in my country, how could it be otherwise,” Marcelo began, appealing to the emotions to analyze what he experienced last December.

And he continued: “The other day I heard that (Gerardo) Martino said that when he goes to see Newell’s he doesn’t care if the team plays well or badly, what he wants is for them to win. He doesn’t start analyzing if (the DT , Gabriel) Heinze is right or wrong, no, the fans go onto the pitch and the first thing we want is for the team to win. So I wanted Argentina to win anyway and then we would analyze it.“.

“The award that (Lionel) Messi has won is an award much more related to his stubbornness, patience and endurance than to his resources, which of course are extraordinary,” said di Leo, who hadn’t coached for the national team since he stepped down in September 2004, almost a year before the debut of La Pulga, already with José Pekerman in that position.

“There were two things I loved about the (World Cup) final,” Bielsa continued to recall, more open than usual to contact with journalists. “Before the match I made a comparison between the two teams, I put each French player against each Argentine player, in their positions. My conclusion is that there were nine French players better than nine Argentines, and I said to myself: ‘Bitch, what a difficult match…’“, Raised the Fool, without naming his exhibit.

“Argentina not only deserved the victory but also dominated the match 80 out of 90 minutes. For me this was the best praise of all, for the coach, the coaching staff and the players. They have proven to be much better than their rivals when the previous analysis indicated otherwise,” concluded Rosario’s DT.

Then Bielsa spoke of the Argentine public, alluding to the success with which football is usually analyzed in these latitudes. He suffered it in his own flesh, when he headed the Selection in the World Cup in Korea and Japan 2002. Argentina finished favorites for that tournament but ended up being eliminated in the first round, leaving the coach forever scarred despite the good work done up until that tournament.

“I noticed another thing that was crucial for me, for the first time the public would have accompanied the team even if they hadn’t won, and this is not typical of Argentine success,” said Bielsa. And he underlined: “The Argentine team won it. I always say that the social cost of defeat in Argentina it empowers the players: nobody wants to lose because going out on the street after a defeat is more difficult in Argentina than in most places where football is a passion. But here the audience was different, right from the start. The message that was downloaded to the team was that they would accompany him even if they didn’t win“.

Then, in conclusion, Bielsa closed his brilliant analysis of the adventure of Messi, Scaloni and company in the Middle East as if he were making a dedicated speech.

“So, for me, three very important things came together: players willing to beat better rivals, legitimately, squeezing their conditions to the max; the second, a player like Messi in a state of mental grace, because the state of grace on his feet that he always has, and third, an audience that has joined his team through heartfelt, unconditional love. Unconditional love for any human being is very powerful, I love you no matter if you win or lose. If you know you’re loved beforehand, it’s so much easier to release everything you’re capable of.”