The selector of Uruguay, Marcelo Bielsastated a few hours ago that he has “the same strength” as from day one to continue leading the Celeste and lead it in the World Cup that will be held next year. This was said at a press conference in Montevideo just 48 hours after the team lost 5-1 in a friendly match against the United States.
“If at any time I considered that I should not continue, it was not at this moment,” emphasized the Argentine-born technical director, who acknowledged that losing due to that result “is not an episode that can be ignored and that makes one feel ashamed. He added that he always took responsibility for the team’s bad moments.
“You have to say what you did wrong to see if the phrase ‘I take responsibility’ has any weight or no weight. I always took responsibility and I took responsibility in a legitimate and non-deceptive way. Each time I summarized the mistakes that I think I made,” he emphasized.
He stressed that he is not guided by any rumors and that he believes that if the players wanted him to leave his position, they would talk to him to ask him to do so. “I cannot be guided by any rumor. I have to be guided by day to day life, by what I see, by what I receive, by how I live together and by the type of relationship that is established. Things are to the extent that the person who feels them transmits and says them. I have the possibility of having direct information with the protagonists,” he stated.
Without reproaches to Luis Suárez
He also alluded to what happened after the last Copa América with the Celeste’s top scorer, Luis Suárez, who was very critical of the Argentine coach when closing his cycle with the team. “Suárez said what he said and it had the effect it had. I never responded to each of the statements in the message he gave. I spoke about them internally with the players. What happened that time is not what I was used to happening: that the complaints were made public. All that happened, I have no resentment or revenge,” he said.
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Some time ago, the technical director had assured that Suárez’s criticism against him had caused his authority to be “somewhat affected.” This Thursday, Bielsa said that throughout his career he was valued by the players and that this period is the one in which he has received “the most abuse”, both in concrete and potential cases.
Bielsa also referred to the words said by Lucas Torreira, who was not called up by the Argentine coach and stated that “Uruguayans must not lose the desire to go with our country” and that “we deserve much more.” Asked about Torreira’s statements, Bielsa responded: “It is not an invitation to call him up,” and then recalled that he plays in a position that is very well covered in the national team. “For Torreira, I did the most I do in all cases. I never stopped watching his games. He called me one day and told me: Why don’t you call me? I explained to him why I didn’t call him,” he said.
