Óscar Tabárez – »El Maestro« – has brought football back to the top of the world in Uruguay
The list of ten coaches in the South American continental football tournament Copa America, which has been played for a week, shows one thing above all: gray temples are not a blemish. While the coaches are getting younger and younger in Europe and many would also pass as dressman, the South American associations still rely on the good old football teacher, the veteran of a thousand battles. Only Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni (43) and Venezuelan coach Bolivia, César Farías (48), have less than half a century under their belts.
Oscar Washington Tabárez (74) is even affectionately called “El Maestro”. He was Uruguay’s national coach at the 1990 World Cup and has been again since 2006. In 2011 he was elected world national coach by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). In the following year, he was awarded the title of “Master of Sport” by UNESCO because of his merits in using sport as a “means of social integration”. You could say that Uruguay has a project, and that is not usually the case in South America. Tabárez has brought the small country on the Río de la Plata, which has about as many inhabitants as Berlin, back to the top of the world, and given it back its dignity. The football pitches in Uruguay are almost all gravel pitches. There you can find the great talents. El Maestro did. When Uruguay debuts Argentina in the Copa América at the Mané Garrincha stadium in the capital Brasília this Saturday (2 a.m. CEST), it will be Tabárez’s 213rd international game as coach of the Charrúas. Joachim Löw (193) will no longer be able to catch up with him. Tabárez describes himself as an admirer of the »low profile« and the loser. That sounds like wisdom!
The aforementioned César Farias made it into the top ten of the IFFHS rankings in 2011 as the first Venezuelan coach (8th place). Between 2007 and 2013 Farías revolutionized Venezuelan football. He qualified his country’s juniors for the U-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 and made it to the round of 16 straight away. At the Copa América 2011 in Argentina, Venezuela reached the semifinals, led by Juan Arango from Gladbach at the time. Farías has also conducted in Mexico, India, Paraguay and Bolivia, where he won the 2016 championship with Club The Strongest from La Paz. Since 2019 he has been the full-time national coach of Bolivia, which has to win against Chile on Friday evening (11 p.m. CEST) in the Arena Pantanal of Cuiabá (Mato Grosso) in order to have realistic chances of the quarter-finals.
When Lionel Scaloni took over Argentina’s Albiceleste three years ago, he was controversial for two reasons. One was that he had no professional experience as a coach other than having been Jorge Sampaoli’s assistant at Sevilla FC. Sampaoli was probably primarily concerned with the fact that Scaloni knew the Spanish league inside out, where he had celebrated great successes as a player with Deportivo La Coruña. On the other hand, Scaloni does not live in Argentina, but on Mallorca, where the journalists from Silberland can meet him every now and then. What does that remind you of? When Jürgen Klinsmann took office … Scaloni’s assistants are Pablo Aimar (Messi’s great role model as a player) and Bayern Munich conqueror Walter Samuel. Both so-called Pekerman boys, who can hardly be denied footballing expertise. Can you help Argentina win an official title again after 28 years?
As with the last edition of the Copa two years ago, the majority of all coaches are Argentines. Ricardo “El Tigre” Gareca (63) has held the reins of Peru since 2015. At the Copa América 2015 he won bronze with the Inka kickers, qualified them for a World Cup again after 36 years, and two years ago they even made it to the Copa final against Brazil. Bielsa student Eduardo Berizzo (51) has been Paraguay’s coach since 2019 and should bring the paralyzing Albirroja back on course for the World Cup. In Chile he was Bielsa’s assistant, in Seville he replaced Sampaoli, but lost his job after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Gustavo Alfaro (58) trains Ecuador. Originally, Jordi Cruyff was supposed to do the job. Corona got in the way. Most recently, Alfaro trained the Boca Juniors. He is considered a security fanatic.
