Uruguay Must Beat Spain — and Themselves — to Stay in the World Cup
Marcelo Bielsa and Luis de la Fuente share a history rooted in Athletic Bilbao, but when they meet on Friday in Guadalajara, their situations could hardly be more different. According to The Guardian, Spain arrive as European champions, unbeaten in 33 matches and already through to the knockout rounds. Uruguay, meanwhile, have yet to win a single game at this World Cup and are staring down elimination.
The personal connection between the two coaches adds an unusual layer to the tie. De la Fuente, who played and coached at Athletic before being sacked from his first senior role at Deportivo Alavés after just 11 games, spent a large portion of his subsequent 18 months out of work studying Bielsa’s methods at close quarters. “I spent five, six months watching all his training sessions,” he said. “I learned so much from him.” Bielsa, for his part, was characteristically understated, acknowledging contact between them and describing the football De la Fuente has produced with Spain as “exquisite” — before adding that it was considerably more beautiful than what he himself has managed with Uruguay.
On the pitch, Uruguay’s problems are clear. A 2-2 draw with Cape Verde and a failure to beat Saudi Arabia have left them on the brink. Midfielder Agustín Canobbio insists the squad “don’t feel inferior to anyone,” but Bielsa himself admitted many within the camp have “no positive expectations at all.”
Off it, things are arguably worse. After the 2024 Copa América, Luis Suárez publicly described the national team environment as cold and dysfunctional, alleging players had to formally request that Bielsa simply greet them in the morning. Suárez recounted Bielsa telling him not to comfort Darwin Núñez after the striker broke down in tears at half-time, and questioned why Matias Vecino had walked away from international football at 30. Bielsa has not exactly disputed the portrait. Following a 5-1 defeat to the United States last November, he described himself as “toxic” — someone who “only sees errors, who demands, who corrects, who is never satisfied with anything.”
It is a remarkable admission from a coach whose influence on world football, De la Fuente included, is enormous. Whether that honesty translates into a Uruguay performance capable of beating the European champions is another matter entirely.
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